Full text of "Memoirs of the Queensland Museum"

ATIME

FOR A MUSEUM

The History of the
QueenslandllMuseum

18624986

Featured in the museum's logo and on
the front cover of this volume is the male
of Queensland's tropical Birdwing
Butterfly, Ornithoptera priamus.

ATIME

FOR A MUSEUM

The History rfthe
QueenslandtlMuseum

1862-1986

PATRICIA MATHER

with N.H. Agnew (assistant editor), A. Bartholomai, R. Belcher, RA Coleman,

J.C.H. Gill, D.K. Griffin, G.J. Ingram, G.B. Monteith, M.C. Quinnell,

DJ. Robinson, I.G. Sanker, S. Turner, D.P. Vernon, E.P. Wixted, M J. Wade.

Published as volume 24 of the Memoirs of the Queensland Museum

Dedicated to past directors of the
Queensland Museum, and to those who
worked with them, unremittingly, to
build a museum worthy of 'this great and

varied territory ' (Board of Trustees

Annual Report 1879-80)

Previous page: The southern sky from the
Darling Downs, where the first free
immigrants to Queensland had taken up
land in 1840 (photograph by courtesy
Bryan Bridge).

Contents

Preface, ix

1 THE STAGE IS SET Queensland in the 1860s, i

2 SHEER WANT OF SPACE Museum Buildings, 13

3 LOYAL AND ZEALOUS SERVICE The Staff, 35

4 SHOWANDTELL Displays, 67

5 DIALOGUE The Community and the Museum, 101

6 ALL THAT GLITTERS Mineralogy, m

7 THE RECORD IN THE ROCKS Geology, 129

8 SCALES, FEATHERS AND FUR Vertebrate Zoology, m

9 SINGLE CELLS TO SPINY SHELLS Invertebrate Zoology, 173

10 PEOPLES AND LIFESTYLES Anthropology, 199

11 MAN AND MACHINES History and Technology, 221

12 PANDORA'S BOX Maritime Archaeology, 243

13 THE NEED FOR SCIENTIFIC WORKS The Library, 253

14 MEN OF GOODWILL The Boards of Trustees, 275

15 IN PERPETUITY The Museum's Continuing Role, 301
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES Appendix 1, 309

Charles Coxen, 310; Karl Theodor Staiger, 311;
Charles Walter de Vis, 313; Kendall Broadbent, 315;
Ronald Hamlyn-Harris, 320; Heber Albert Longman, 321;
George Mack, 323

THE STAFF 1862-1970 Appendix 2, 325

REFERENCES AND FOOTNOTES Appendix 3, 331
INDEX, 353

The Contributors

The authors of this history are all closely associated
with the Queensland Museum. J.C.H. Gill is chairman of
the board of trustees; DP. Vernon is a long-time member
of the staff now retired; E.P. Wixted is the museum
librarian; N.H. Agnew is scientist in charge of materials
conservation; D.K. Griffin is officer-in -charge of the
education section; Susan Turner is an honorary
associate; and architect R. Belcher is the museum
display officer. Other authors are curators in the
Queensland Museum. The design of the volume is the
work of staff artist, Paul Ramsden.

There are others who have helped. Janet Hogan of
the Queensland Art Gallery read the manuscript and
gave it careful and constructive appraisal. Professor SA
Prentice contributed the account of the Queensland Hall
of Science, Industry and Health Development Committee
in Chapter 11; Peter Heyworthof the Historic Buildings
Section of the Department of Works supplied information
on the work done on the Gregory Terrace Building in
Chapter 2; the discussion of the architecture of the
Gregory Terrace Building was contributed by Teresa
Robertson. Stephen Cook searched the museum's
negative files and found many of the illustrations and he
searched time books and correspondence files to help
produce the list of staff in Appendix 2, Contributors have
also benefited from the assistance of staff in Queensland
State Archives, the John Oxiey Library and the
Parliamentary library.

Through his knowledge of the history of Queensland
and of the museum, Daniel J. Robinson, curator of
history and technology, has contributed to the accuracy
of many sections of this work, and his copied and
abstracted documents from museum and state archives
have removed the necessity for many long searches.
Donald P. Vernon, through his involvement with the
museum spanning 36 years, his first hand experience
and often participation in many of the events recounted,
his sensitivity and understanding of the personalities
involved and of the pressures and restraints that affected
decisions of the time, has enhanced the quality and
humanity of this history. Neville Agnew, as assistant
editor, has contributed to style and consistency
throughout.

In addition to her responsibilities as editor and her
sole and joint authorship of a number of chapters,
Patricia Mather has collaborated closely with the other
authors. She has made a significant contribution to the
content and presentation of all sections of the work and
to the planning and co-ordination of the whole volume—
Irom the inception of the project in November 1984 up to
its publication.

The authors of each respective chapter are set out
below:

THE STAGE IS SET- DJ. Robinson
SHEER WANT OF SPACE-P. Mather, R. Belcher
LOYAL AND ZEALOUS SERVICE- P. Mather
SHOW AND TELL-D. Vernon, B.M- Campbell
DIALOGUE-DJ. Robinson. D.K. Griffin
ALL THAT GLITTERS -I.G. Sanker
THE RECORD IN THE ROCKS-S. Turner, MJ, Wade
SCALES, FEATHERS AND FUR-GJ. Ingram
SINGLE CELLS TO SPINY SHELLS-G.B. Monteith.

P. Mather
PEOPLE AND LIFESTYLES- M.C. Quinnell
MAN AND MACHINES-DJ. Robinson
PANDORA'S BOX-RA Coleman
THE NEED FOR SCIENTIFIC WORKS -EJ> Wixted
MEN OF GOODWILL-J.C.H. Gill
IN PERPETU1TY-A. Bartholomai
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES -P. Mather (C. Coxen,
C.W. de Vis, R. Hamlyn-Harris); DJ. Robinson
CK.T. Staiger); S. Turner (HA Longman); DP. Vernon
(K Broadbent, G. Mack)
THE STAFF -P. Mather

A. Bartholomai
Director,
Queensland
Museum

viii

Preface

In this, its 125th year, the Queensland Museum has opened in its new
building in the Queensland Cultural Centre. The occasion is celebrated in
this account of the museum's history— written principally by members of
its staff, and published by its board of trustees as a special commemorative
volume of the Memoirs of the Queensland Museum.

The museum was founded by the Queensland Philosophical Society
on 20 January 1862 and right from the beginning the Queensland
government was involved with its operation. The government had
provided a room for the museum as well as a £100 grant to further the
society's aims — and one of its principal aims was the establishment of a
permanent, public museum. To this end the society had built up its own
collections of natural history and was caring for mineralogical collections
made by the government geologists. Although the government set up a
display of this mineralogical material toward the end of June 1871, the
Philosophical Society was reluctant to relinquish its reponsibilities for that
material until the terms of its custodianship had been satisfied— until a
permanent public museum was erected. The society's scruples were
removed when, in October 1871, the minister for Public Works appointed
the Philosophical Society's vice-president— Charles Coxen— as honorary
curator of the museum. The government had thus acknowledged its
responsibility for staffing the museum— albeit by an honorary
appointment — as well as providing its accommodation. Custodian Karl
Theodor Staiger, the first permanent member of the museum staff, was
eventually appointed by the government in 1873.

In the pages that follow, the commitments and endeavours of the men
and women who served the institution are recounted. They worked to
record and to understand the colony— ultimately the state— of Queensland
and to bring that understanding to the people.

That their efforts were fruitful is evident in the Queensland Museum
of today. It is an institution respected in the world of science as well as by
Queenslanders from every corner of the state who use its services.

I congratulate the Queensland Museum on its past achievements and
wish it an ever increasing measure of success and prosperity on the South
Bank of the Brisbane River.

The Hon. Peter McKechnie MLA,
Minister for Tourism, National Parks,
Sport and the Arts.

fffr

i&J^

Peter McKechnie,

Minister for Tourism, National

Parks, Sport and The Arts

Memoirs

OF THE

Queensland Museum

Brisbane

PO Box 3300, SouthBrisbane 4101, Australia

Phone 06 7 3840 7555

Fax 06 7 3846 1226

Email qmlib@qm.qld.gov.au

Website www.qm.qld.gov.au

National Library of Australia card number
ISSN 0079-8835

NOTE

Papers published in this volume and in all previous volumes of the Memoirs of the
Queensland Museum maybe reproduced for scientific research, individual study or other
educational purposes. Properly acknowledged quotations may be made but queries regarding
the republication of any papers should be addressed to the Editor in Chief. Copies of the
journal can be purchased from the Queensland Museum Shop.

A Guide to Authors is displayed at the Queensland Museum web site

A Queensland Government Project

Typeset at the Queensland Museum

THE
STAGE
IS SET

Queensland
in the 1860s

The colony of Queensland was created on 6 June 1859. On that
day it was separated from New South Wales by Letters Patent
under the Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, and over the signature of Queen Victoria 1 . Sir George
Ferguson Bowen KCMG was duly appointed governor. On
arrival in its capital, Brisbane, some five months later, on 10 December
1859, he proclaimed the colony and set about the appointment of the first
parliament.

For 18 years this frontier of Queen Victoria's empire, that was to
become Queensland, had been growing. The operation of the Moreton Bay
penal settlement was being wound up from 1839 2 , and in 1842 Captain
Wickham RN had become police magistrate of the newly proclaimed free
town of Brisbane. Settlers, previously excluded from the area within a 50
mile radius, could now use Brisbane's port facilities, and many moved
north from New South Wales to join the first pioneers in taking up the rich
agricultural and grazing lands that were known to exist on the Darling
Downs and to the north. Between 1842 and 1862 there were also many
settlers who came direct from Europe to this northern district of the
colony of New South Wales— Moreton Bay. The new settlement was
fortunate in the quality of its immigrants for many were men of ability,

Previous page: Brisbane 1830. The
Windmill, later to become the first home
for the museum, is on the skyline. To its
right is the Convict Barracks building
that was to be the museum's second
home (painting, by Cedric Flower after a
contemporary sketch in the Mitchell
Library, in the Civic Art collection.
Reproduced by courtesy of the Brisbane
City Council).

energy and some means. Some of the outstanding leaders in the
community had arrived in one or another of the three ships chartered by
Dr John Dunmore Lang, who had returned to Europe in 1840 with a vision
of a new England in the South Seas. He set out to induce 'skilled and
scholarly men of sound moral and religious principles' 3 to migrate to what
he referred to as 'Cooksland'— Moreton Bay. Not content with mere
representation in the parliament in Sydney, these men worked
successfully for separation and the constitutional autonomy of an
independent colony. Primarily they were motivated to achieve the just and
democratic regulation of property.

Like other parts of Australia, Queensland was dominated by its urban
communities. It was a product of the industrial revolution 45 . Instead of
taking up land for farming and grazing, many newcomers had settled in
the towns, becoming merchants and traders, manning the ports, and
starting industries to serve the growing urban and rural communities.
Even the pastoral and agricultural ventures were run as businesses rather
than the feudal peasant farms from which European communities had
developed.

At the time of separation from New South Wales there were about
28,000 Queenslanders of European origin. About half lived in the country,

Sir George Ferguson Bowen KCMG,
captain general and first governor of the
colony of Queensland.

St. Patrick's Tavern, east side of Queen
Street, Brisbane, between Edward and
Albert Streets, about 1860 (photograph
by courtesy Monier Roof Tiles).

The Reverend John Dunmore Lang who
persuaded many of the 'skilled and
scholarly men', who subsequently
became leaders of the Brisbane
community, to migrate to Cooksland —
Moreton Bay — before its separation
from New South Wales.

The Hon. R.G.W. Herbert, first colonial
secretary and premier of Queensland.

scattered over an area that extended north to Rockhampton and inland
about 250 miles. The other half were equally divided between Brisbane-
Ipswich and the smaller provincial towns 6 .

Work was plentiful everywhere and property ownership was high.
Graziers, in particular, were desperately short of labour but there was also
a sound level of employment in the cities. Schemes that were suggested to
supply a cheap work force included re introduction of convict
transportation or importation of labourers from India or China. These
ideas were not developed. Efforts were made, however, to attract migrants
from Great Britain. On 9 October 1860, on the recommendation of a Select
Committee on Immigration, a certain Henry Jordan was appointed as
Queensland's representative in London to encourage immigration. The
enticements offered were grants of land under a land order system, and an
assisted passage scheme. It was a very active public relations programme
that Jordan pursued. In his final report he stated that between January
1861 and December 1866 he had delivered 192 lectures to a total audience
of 161,200 people and had despatched 85 ships carrying 35,725 persons 7 —
more than 20% of the number he had addressed.

The Queensland government also sent a representative— John
Heussler— to Europe to recruit migrants under the land order system. Dr
Lang, the influential supporter of immigration, strongly supported the idea
of having some from Germany. Heussler himself had come from Germany,
so it was not surprising that most of the migrants he recruited came from
that country —where political unrest made his job easier". Many of the
Germans who came to Queensland had a farming background, and rather
than remain in the towns as many of Jordan's settlers did, they chose to
settle in rural areas 9 .

Governor Bowen reported on the Queensland of 1860 in glowing
terms— thereby increasing the influx of immigrants: public revenue was
nearly three times the average of that for Great Britain; housing was
generally of a good standard 10 . Again quoting Bowen— after his trip to the
Darling Downs in 1860:

I have also found in the houses of the long chain of settlers who have
entertained me with such cordial hospitality, all the comforts and
most of the luxuries and refinements of the houses of country
gentlemen in England ll .

It was an exciting time as this great flood of migrants poured into
Queensland. Most came to make their fortunes and many believed that
this could be done through the acquisition of land.

However, there were few people with experience of either
government or politics. To make up for the lack of a legislature,
Queenslanders had adopted, enthusiastically, the use of public meetings to
resolve political differences 12 . Brisbane had elected its first municipal
council only two months before the governor's arrival 13 , so experience,
even at a local government level, was lacking.

When Bowen arrived in Brisbane and proclaimed separation from
New South Wales, a public service had to be created and legislation
enacted. As an interim measure, the first Executive Council and
legislature were not elected but were appointed by the governor. As
premier, Bowen appointed 29 year-old R.G.M. Herbert who had
accompanied him to Queensland. Despite his youth and lack of local
experience, Herbert was well qualified for the job, for he previously had
been Gladstone's private secretary and had a knowledge of government
that was rare in the colony 12 . The first elections for the Legislative

QUEENSLAND

PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY

v, i |

SATURDAY. ID DECEMBER, 1850.

PROCLAMATION.

by Hit Erecllenqy But i Imbue Perol-sos Bow km, Knight. Commander uf the Mont Distin^i

■ .1 9fc, Michael and St. George, Captain-General and I u -Chief of the Colony

Cif Oueeuslaiid and ita Dependencies, and Vice- Admiral uf (be Mine, <ie,, Jfcc, &o.
•
\\niEKKAS Vy an ActTtassod in the Session of Parliament holden in the igb Benti im
* ' ti-oiiil' ycftfi -i toe Keigu of Her Majesty! politied, " ,4*i .-L-/ *» enable Her MajeMy to ■
•■^ud Bitloi amended of t&cLnguiatitre <f AV» &ruA& Hafe* * fci tbxfer a Constitution (>n Aev
" ■ .VeuM l-l'.n'.-.-, und to ero«( a r ? .- ,,' ftuj to #iw NcJ/Mfy,' ' it was amongst Other tilings enacted
that it should ho lawful for Her Majesty, by Letters IV. at, to be frum time to time issued under the
Great Seal of ilie United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to ewot into a separata Colony or

itties, any Icrrit'iri ■■- v I n : ralfld froni New South Wales by such alteration an

therein was nienttoued, of tiie northern boundary Iheruuf \ and in mid bv snob Letter? Patent, or by
Order iu Council, to make pruviViuu tor the Government of any nd ftrt the entable-

ment uf ji Legislature therein, in manner a* nearly thu form oM.invernmcnt and L

laturc whieh .should be at such time established in New South Wales oh the eiioum^tances of such
Colony will allow ; and that full pon '^" iu and by sucn Letters Patent, or Order in

i the Legislature of the said Colony, to make further provision in that behalf And wl
Her Majesty, in exereifiC uf the pOWCTS 90 vested IU Her Majesty, b«S by Her Commission under the
tirciL Seal of bllfl United Kingdom, bearing date the sixth ihy uf June, In the year of our L>rd ■■>>•
thousand ei^ht hundred wad fifty-niu'-'. appointed tfaftt fr" 1 liH BOld

Letters Patent in the Counties itf New South Wales and Queensland, the Territory described in the
said letters Patent should be separated from tliC said Colunv uf New Smith Wale* and be erected
into the separate Colony of Queensland: No,-. therefore, 1 Sir Georoe Fbrouson Bo wen, the
Governor of Queensland, in pursuance of the authority invested in ine by Her Majesty, do hereby
proclaim and publish the said Letters Patent in the words and figures following, respectively.

QUEENSLAND.

LETTERS PATENT erecting More.ton Jlao
into a Colony, under the name of QUEENS-
f.ANH, and appointing 8m GbuHOJ-: FbH*

aveon Bowkv, KC.M.O, to i>e Cfapfcn'v

General and Govrrn\>r-in-t' hie/ of the sans.
VICTORIA, by the Grace of God, of the Doited

Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
Queen, Defender of the Faith, ti» Our trunty
and well-beloved Sir Geop.uk 1'kruuson
Bowen, Knight Commander of Our most
distinguished Order of St Michael and St.
George.

GbEETINO :

WberRaS, by a reserved Bill of the Legislature
uf New South Wales, passed in the seventeenth
year of oar reign, as amended by an Act passed
in the Session of Parliament holden in the eight-
eenth and nineteenth years of our reign, entitled,
" An Act to enable Her Majesty to assent to a
Bill, as amended, of the Legislature of New South

to confer a Constitution on New South
Wales, and to grant a Civil Lifltto Her ftfajfl
it Willi enacted that nothing therein contained
loomed to prevent us from altering tbe
boundary of the, Colony uf New Smith Wales on
i ml! m Bliob a manner as to "* raigbtseem
fit; and it was further enacted by ihe said Isnt
-1 Act, that if Wfl should at any time exer-
cise tiie power gircn to Us by the said rawrved
Bill of altering tho northern boundary of our said
colony, it should be lawful for Vtt by any Letters
Patent, t*> be from time to time issued undor the
Great Seal of our United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, tocrect into a separate Colony
or Colonies any territories which might be sepa-
rated from our said colony of New Sooth Wales
by such alterations as aforesaid of the northern
boundary thereof, and in nnd by such Letters
Patent, Off bv Order in Council, to make provi-
sion fur the ("invernnient of any such separate
colony, and for the establishment of a Legislature
therein, in manner as nearly resembling the form

Proclamation uf the colfl
Queensland

Assembly were held on 27 April I860 14 . The right to vote was limited to
males and was based on the ownership of property. The success of
Queensland's early settlers in acquiring property is evident in the fact that
the percentage who voted was almost as great as that in New South Wales,
where property ownership was not a prerequisite.

The traditional view of Queensland political life at the time of
separation has been one of conflict between conservative squatters in the
country and town liberals. However, since 'all classes were aiming at the
acquisition of property and the removal of all obstacles thereto' 12 , the real
political activity was that of 'faction among different types of property
owners, rather than of growing party schism on a basis of principle' 12 .
Because the worker still hoped to become a property owner there was no
strong Labour movement in local political life— though the beginnings of
this show in the arrival of the eight hour day movement in Brisbane in
March 186L

In the first session of the Queensland parliament, four Land Bills
were passed, defining the conditions under which pastoral and agricultural
land could be held 15 . The first sections of the public service to be set up
were land titles offices, a survey office, and a police force. Thus the taking
up of land had been expedited. Law and order now could be enforced.
Communities were becoming affluent and stable.

In the first four years the Queensland population had more than
doubled 6 . By 1864 there were 37,710 Queenslanders who had come from
Great Britain and 9,592 had been born in the colony, 7,205 had come from
other Australian states and New Zealand and 6,360 were foreigners 6 .
Foreigners included 4,395 German immigrants, some of whom had set up
a mission to the Aborigines at Zion Hill, Nundah, in 1838 and stayed on as
settlers after the failure of the mission. From 1861 on there was a regular
flow of migrants from Germany and other parts of war-torn and depressed
Europe 16 . Trade and commerce, skilled artificers, providers of food, drink
and accommodation, and hired servants accounted for almost 25% of the
workers between the ages of 15 and 60. Approximately 25% were women
engaged in unpaid domestic duties, and there was a handful, 3%, of public
servants, legal, clerical and medical men and teachers. More than 25% of

A view from Wickham Terrace looking
southwest, in the year of separation from
New South Wales— 1859 (photograph
from Queensland 1900, Alcazar Press,
Brisbane).

mit&f^;

jd "^§

'~wmgg^'0>*~^

WOk£- kX.li a BAi'ui*

the 40,000 people of working age were engaged in agricultural or pastoral
activities, reflecting the popular belief in land as the way to fortune.

At the same time, the Aborigines, whose tribes had occupied this land
for more than 40,000 years, were dispossessed. Timbergetters, graziers
and farmers excluded them from traditional hunting grounds, and tribal
boundaries and the fabric of the ancient ways of life were breaking down.
In May 1860 Governor Bowen reported on the distribution of clothes and
blankets to Aborigines. The occasion was the Queen's birthday and 'about
500 Blacks of different clans and speaking different dialects had
assembled' 17 from their camps around Brisbane, including the present day
suburbs of Toowong, Enoggera, Alderley and Clayfield w . By 1870 many of
the Aboriginal traditional ceremonies had died out and many of the people
had succumbed to European diseases — such as smallpox, measles and
veneral disease — to which they had no natural immunity.

In their single-minded pursuit of the development of the economic
welfare of their colony, and of their own fortunes, the settlers were
excluding the ancient people who had occupied the land before them. As
newcomers they were ignorant and careless of the evidence of Aboriginal
cultures and were alienating large parts of the natural environment. The
level of education in the Queensland of the early 1860s was, by present
standards, low and the people, mostly, seemed not to recognise their
impact on both the indigenous people and the natural environment of the
land they had occupied.

At separation in 1859 there were two national schools, one at Drayton
and one at Warwick. The Brisbane National School opened at the end of
the year. In addition to these government operated schools there were six
run by the Church of England, four by the Roman Catholic Church, and
over 30 private schools, some with church affiliations, in the colony 19 . The
1864 census listed 17,893 students, but of these 13,814 were receiving
tuition at home and only 5,079 were attending school. Nevertheless, the
1864 census statistics on literacy indicate that only 38,409 of the 61,467
people in Queensland could read and write. It was not until 1870 that fees
at state schools were abolished, leading to a considerable increase in
school attendance. Secondary education did not come to Queensland until

*b t-'\- *.

Looking south along Queen Street from
Edward Street, Brisbane, in 1860. The
Parliamentary building— originally the
Barracks building— that became the
second home for the museum is at the
top of the street on the right (photograph
from Queensland 1900, Alcazar Press,
Brisbane).

the Ipswich Grammar School was established in 1863. It was followed by
Brisbane Grammar School in 1869 20 .

Fortunately, there were some who were not insensitive to their
adopted land and its native people, both of which were being changed so
radically and abruptly. At this time, there was wide European interest in
Australia and all things Australian. The early collecting efforts by Sir
Joseph Banks in northern Queensland had created an avid interest in its
plants, animals and inhabitants. This interest was reflected in the
enthusiasm of the great museums of Europe for acquiring collections of
material from Australia; and it filtered through to those who lived in the
new colony, some of whom, no doubt, felt pride in their remarkable
environment that was the subject of so much international attention.
The settlers could not fail to be impressed that scientists invariably
accompanied expeditions of exploration — for instance, the North
Australian Expedition led by A.C. Gregory, setting out from Brisbane in
August 1855, included a geologist, a "botanist, a naturalist and a collector 21 .
Charles Coxen, the founder of the Queensland Museum, was certainly
influenced by the visit of his brother-in-law, the famous naturalist, John
Gould, who came on a collecting trip to New South Wales in 1839 22 .
Governor Bowen, a scholarly man who had been president of the
University of Corfu, and who was an enthusiastic supporter of exploration
and scientific study, wrote to Newcastle expressing the hope 'hereafter to
be the promoter of exploring expeditions which, while developing the
almost unlimited resources of Queensland, will add new conquests to

Civilization and to Science ,23 . Many of the early settlers, such as those

who had arrived as migrants under the auspices of Dr Lang, had received
a broad, general education in Great Britain. They may have known
something of natural history studies and understood the excitement

associated with Charles Darwin's theory expressed in the Origin of Species
published in November 1859.

Thus, in this Queensland community— otherwise so intent on
property and profit— there existed a nucleus of settlers who were aware
of their unique inheritance and, in an otherwise raw colony, sought
intellectual stimulation and a cultural focus. When Charles Coxen and
others formed the Queensland Philosophical Society 24 in March 1859,
these people were brought together. They shared strong interests in the
science and technology of the day, and considerable curiosity about
Australia and a desire to understand it and its Aboriginal people. The
government gave temporary use of rooms in the Windmill on Wickham
Terrace and a grant of £100 in 'furtherance of the aims of the society' and,
toward the end of January 1862, the Philosophical Society began to display
its collections 25 . The press of the day reported on the event, the Moreton
Bay Courier stating:

A large room has been set aside in the Windmill to receive
contributions of specimens of natural history for classification and
arrangement. It is to be hoped this will provide the nucleus of a
Queensland Museum. This followed action by the Philosophical
Society 26 .

So, the Queensland Museum was founded on 20 January 1862, two
years after the colony had been proclaimed 27 . It was operated by the
Philosophical Society with some assistance from the government until,
from 1871, the government assumed the primary responsibility for it 28 . The
windmill overlooked a Brisbane that was a scattered assembly of buildings
set along dirt streets and dominated by churches and a few structures of
more than one storey 29 ; and —

looking towards the western suburbs little could be seen but

forest trees, with an occasional patch of cleared ground, cultivated
for the production of maize, potatoes, pumpkins and lucerne, while
the banks of the small creeks which entered the river on the Milton
Reach held tangled vine scrub 30 .

In December 1862, with 29 members, the society elected its first
office bearers— the governor, Sir George Bowen, president; Coxen,
vice-president; and a council of five that included H. Rawnsley and
S. Diggles 24 — and its first report was read, in which were stated its
intentions in regard to the museum:

to procure a site for a permanent Museum in such a location as shall
be accessible to those who desire to consult the specimens and
preparations it may contain, and also to render the collections as
complete and valuable as the means at the disposal of the Society
will admit of 25 .

Many citizens, beginning to appreciate their unique environment,
donated items to the society, and in due course the museum became a
scientific and cultural focus for residents and visitors to the colony. In
fact, until the university was founded in 1910, it was the only scientific
institution in Queensland.

In New South Wales the Sydney Colonial Museum had been
established in 1829 with the appointment of a carpenter, W. Holmes, as
custodian— the same man who in 1831 was accidentally shot and killed
while collecting at Moreton Bay 312 . Five years after its foundation, its
name 'Colonial Museum' was changed to the 'Australian Museum'. This
name, which the New South Wales state museum— the largest and oldest
of all the state museums — retains to this day, reflects the history of the

4foA#&

C'r:WW:j

Ceramic medal celebrating the
proclamation of Queensland. The medal
is in the museum's collection.

'Pastoral tenant of the Crown' - building

a new homestead (from a hand-coloured
photograph by Richard Daintree in the

i ion).

settlement of Australia 31 . It seems likely that the men responsible for the
establishment of the Queensland Museum had some of their guidance
from the museums of Europe, especially from the British Museum,
However, despite the six to eight days sailing time between Sydney and
Brisbane, there were ties and communication with the museum in Sydney,
Although Charles Coxen had sent collections of birds back to the London
Zoological Society and the British Museum, he also sent material to the
Australian Museum- 11 ; and while in Sydney in 1839 John and Elizabeth
Gould had stayed with Dr George Bennett — the honorary secretary of the
Australian Museum — before their four months long visit to Elizabeth
Gould's brothers, Charles and Stephen Coxen, on their property near
Scone, NSW 33 . From 1861 under the effective direction of Gerard Krefft,
and accommodated in its handsome building, the Australian Museum did,
indeed, provide a model for the Queensland colonists to emulate 31 . After
he had visited it in 1871, when the fledging Queensland Museum occupied
two small rooms in the Parliamentary building, Silvester Diggles 'longed

for the time when we should have a similar library and a similar museum
established amongst us in Brisbane' M .

The realisation of the Philosophical Society's aspirations for its
museum was not immediate. There were more pressing priorities that
reflected the needs of the majority of the voters. Although the general
impression was one of prosperity and rapid progress, not everything was
satisfactory. Many of the migrants attracted to Queensland by Henry
Jordan's activities in England were less than content, as an anonymous
composition shows:

Now Jordan's land of promise is the burden of my song.
Perhaps you've heard him lecture, and blow about it strong;
To hear him talk you'd think it was a heaven upon earth.
But listen and I'll tell you now the plain unvarnished truth.

Here snakes and all vile reptiles crawl around you as you walk,
But these you never hear bout in Mr Jordan's talk;
Mosquitoes, too, and sandflies, they will tease you all the night,
And until you get colonized you'll be a pretty sight

To sum it up in a few short words, the place is only fit

For those who were sent out here, for from this they cannot flit.

But any other men who come a living here to try

Will vegetate a little while and then lie down and die s .

Accommodation was one of the main problems. In 1864, there were
reported to be 2473 dwellings in Brisbane, of which 383 were brick, 1923
were of sawn timber, 150 were slab and 15 were aboard vessels 6 . The
Courier referred to 'the want of decent house accommodation at a

reasonable rent ' and 'paltry humpies which are neither air-tight nor

water-tight in flooring, walls or roofs ,36 . Parts of Elizabeth and Queen

Streets were described as 'an open cesspool' 37 . The further one moved
from Brisbane, the rougher the dwellings became and the quality of other
amenities deteriorated. The lack of public sanitation was to lead to a rapid
deterioration in health. Already in 1857 typhoid fever was occurring in
Brisbane 38 . Conditions deteriorated during the following two decades to
the extent that in 1878 Brisbane suburbs were recording an infant
mortality rate of 47%. Typhoid was not controlled until the epidemic of
1884 led to the Public Health Act 1884 which resulted in gradual
improvements 39 .

It is not surprising that the government took no strong interest in
developing the museum until, during the mineral booms of the late 1860s,
it was persuaded that displays of minerals could help prospectors in their
identification of further profitable discoveries.

It was a slow development, from that beginning on 20 January 1862, to
this Queensland Museum of 1986. As we trace its history in the pages that
follow, the museum of today, from its new home on the south bank of the
Brisbane River, pays its tribute to the relatively small band of men and
women who are part of that story. They are the staff members of the
museum, and supporters and friends in public life and from amongst the
general public. They worked, often in political and social environments
that understood neither the need for, nor the role of a museum; and they
worked through years of economic depression, poorly paid and in
understaffed and inadequate buildings with few facilities and little
equipment. Nevertheless, from the beginning, they made a contribution to
knowledge and to the quality of life in this state. It is not a new museum
that you see today, but one that has come of age, that was conceived by the
Philosophical Society in the Brisbane of 1862.

Midday Camp (from a hand-coloured
photograph by Richard Daintree in the
museum's collection).

:--.- s.4^.

,- ;

IP&F&iKV* ■.-'••.. : V , .

'_ * :.;. .'V ■ • --.'•.-';■-*■. - - ... . _

■ ^-ttV

. ■ .

Previous page: The Exhibition building.

Through the 125 years of its history, from 1862 to 1986, the
Queensland Museum has had many homes. Only twice— once
in 1879 and now, in 1986 — have buildings been designed and
built specifically for it. Perhaps the institution's drive and
vitality grew from the efforts and personal commitments that
were needed to make its second-hand accommodation
functional. Despite inconveniences caused by a sometimes critical
unsuitability for museum purposes the buildings reflect the development
of Brisbane from a convict settlement to the large modern city that it is
today.

The Windmill

The first housing for the fledgling Queensland Museum, triumphantly
announced by the Moreton Bay Courier in January 1862, was a 'large

room in the Windmill' 1 . In December 1862 the Philosophical Society, in

its first report, refers to the 'temporary' space granted to it by the
government for the 'nucleus of a museum of natural science' in the
'Windmill Tower'. It was modest accommodation indeed.

The Windmill still stands, high on Wickham Terrace, overlooking the
city in which it is the oldest surviving building and now one of only two
that remain from the penal settlement, the other being the Commissariat

The Windmill, 1865. It was already
operating as a telegraph and signal
station and the Philosophical Society's
museum had been installed there from
1862 (wood engraving first published in
the Australian Journal 1868. By courtesy
John Oxley Library).

Store. It was built between 1827 and 1828 under Commandant Logan to
grind the colony's corn and wheat 2 - 3 . Because of inadequate maintenance
and repair it did not perform properly under the prevailing winds and
often it was out of service altogether. Therefore a treadmill to be worked
by convicts was erected beside it. The treadmill could accommodate up to
25 convicts at one time, but was operated by as few as six when used as
punishment 2 . However, as there was no resident millwright in Brisbane,
things often went wrong, and then it was necessary to send to Sydney for a
convict millwright to carry out repairs. This could take several weeks as
the sea journey each way took from six to eight days under favourable
sailing conditions. In 1835 the windmill completely broke down. Some
months later—

On the 20th February 1836 lightning struck the upper most arm of
the Windmill, shattering to pieces the sweep and backstock, and
entering the Tower by the opening for the windshaft, in its descent
struck the spur wheel tearing away all the brackets, bursting 2 arms
and one of the quarters of the wheel and descending onto the
platform floor, broke the Treadmill hopper to pieces and bursting
open all doors that way escaped 3 .

Such severe damage was not repaired for a long time. It was May
1837 before both the windmill and treadmill were working again. Later

ORIGINAL COVrt Of

WWOMUL LFIOW SKiTCMS)

_ J¥ _081CI»AL vmitMft

TO SIHVICI SAtl*

SECTION

r - "i c

• o IO 'in

PUN

The Windmill — architectural drawings
(redrawn from dimensions in Steele,
1975 2).

that year the newly appointed foreman of works in the penal settlement,
Andrew Petrie, arrived from Sydney and discovered that the machinery
had never been properly assembled. That was probably the reason for it
being in continual need of repair 2 .

The windmill appears to have become derelict between 1841 and 1849
and was advertised for sale — for removal. However, then, as now, there
were people who wanted to preserve their city's landmarks. The Moreton
Bay Courier observed on 8 December 1848 that—

we are glad to learn that an effort is to be made to secure this
building for the public. It would be a great pity to destroy a structure
which adds so much to the picturesque beauty of the town.

Later, on 5 January 1850, under the headline 'Another Appeal for the
Old Windmill', that same newspaper in 'advocating its preservation' quotes
'for cursed is he that removeth his neighbour's landmark' 3 . Apparently the
government retained possession and it was not pulled down. In 1855 there
is a suggestion that the tower be a signal station and in October 1861 its
conversion for use as a telegraph as well as signal station was complete 3 .
The conversion was planned by colonial architect Charles Tiffin, a
prominent member of the Philosophical Society. Tiffin submitted his
estimates to the principal under secretary on 20 February 1861 for—

removal of old arms, wheels, top and other ponderous timbers inside,
laying floors on each storey, putting in new doors and windows and a
new weatherproof floor on top with iron railing, a new staircase or
ladder from bottom to top, repairing the stone and brickwork and
plastering, building two brick rooms for keeper 12 feet by 12 feet
each with water closet and fencing a small triangular plot of ground
to make the whole complete 3 .

So when the Philosophical Society's museum was set up in its large
room in the windmill tower, it was a fully operational signal and telegraph
station — signalling arrivals of steamers and sailing vessels, from Sydney,
northern ports and other colonies, strangers from British or foreign ports,
warships, ships with English mail or with immigrants on board, schooner,
brig or barque 3 . A time ball was hoisted each day at five minutes to LOO
pm and dropped precisely on the hour— by which clocks in the colony
could be set right, for there was no observatory in Brisbane at the time.
Telegraph signals were transmitted to and from Sydney.

The Parliamentary Building

For a while the windmill accommodation was adequate, but at the
December 1866 meeting of the Philosophical Society an occurrence was
reported that was to be repeated many times in the museum s history—
'the cases in the Windmill have suffered considerably during the late
heavy rains' 4 . So in October 1868 the society was given the room formerly
occupied by the parliamentary library in the Parliamentary building in
Queen Street. In January 1869 it was moved to a smaller room in the same
building— so small that most of the specimens remained in their boxes.

In June 1869 the parliament had resolved that a sum of £300 be set
aside 'to initiate the formation of a Free Library and Museum in
Brisbane' 5 and there seemed every possibility that there would be a new
building. However, the government was persuaded that a mineralogical
museum would boost the mining boom— then showing signs of slowing
down, and in 1870 only £100 was set aside solely for a mineralogical
museum 5 . Former government geologist, C. D'Oyly Aplin, noting the £100
that was available, wrote to the minister on 1 June 1871 suggesting that
rooms be made available in the Parliamentary building for a mineralogical

museum, and offering his services' 1 . So, that same month a second room
was found in which D'Oyly Aplin arranged the mineralogical specimens—
those that he had collected as well as those collected by the other
government geologist, Daintree, that had been held by the Philosophical
Society. The two small rooms in the Par] lament ary building that Karl
Staiger refers to as containing the museum when he was appointed
custodian in 1873 were the one containing the minerals and the other the
zoological specimens 7 . Although, in April 1871 Coxen, Diggles and
Bancroft— prominent members of the Philosophical Society— had again
raised the need for a museum building with the minister for PubLic Works,
who had appeared to favour the idea, the government appears to have
forgotten all about the proposal for the time being.

The Parliamentary building, located on the north-western side of
Queen Street from the present corner of Albert Street towards George
Street, had been erected as a convict barracks in 1826-1829* In 1839 part
of it was used as a police court —the first in Queensland. Much later, in
May 1857, the Supreme Court was also accommodated in the building. In
1860 part was converted to provide a temporary home for the first
Queensland houses of parliament". They moved to their new building at
the end of George Street in 1868, just before the museum moved down
from the Windmill. However, parliamentary messengers and the clerk of
the Legislative Assembly stayed in the old Parliamentary building until
about 1879*. In that year— 1879— the Supreme Court moved to its new
location and the old building was demolished soon after, in 1881. There
no available records of the alterations carried out to adapt it to its
changing uses, although the original plan is preserved.

For the museum, the move from the Windmill to premises in a
conspicuous and central location was advantageous, for here it became a
well established part of the life of the community. Indeed, the building
itself was particularly conspicuous for when Brisbane had become a free
settlement in 1859 the surveyors had submitted various plans for the town
to Governor Gipps in Sydney. In all plans Queen Street was to be the mam
street and about one and one half chains (20 metres) in width, the
remaining streets to be one chain wide. Governor Gipps rejected this plan
and ordered all streets to be one chain wide, His statement was 'Oh! the
idea of wasting such a lot of land for a street in a place that will be nothing

The Barracks building, subsequently the
Parliamentary building. The museum
was mOVGc) Co a nx>m here in 1869.
Between 1871 and 1873 it occupied two
of the rooms (redrawn from archival
drawings in Steele, 1975 *).

i| a| mft in

auun sT&m

Apartment 3 of this building became the
Post Office and, in 1873, the museum.
The additional space the museum
subsequently acquired in this building
included the Long Room— but it is not
known which room this was (redrawn
from archival drawings in Steele, 1975 2 ).

else but a paltry village' 2 . Subsequently, Queen Street was made the
originally specified width by moving back the north-western side of the
street, leaving the old convict barracks building projecting into the street.

Although the building was central and accessible as well as being
familiar and conspicuous, the space in it occupied by the museum was far
too small 7 . On 26 July 1872 Coxen wrote to the secretary for Works
directing his attention to the museum's needs:

the pressing desirability for providing more suitable accommodation
and space than now exists 10 .

Written in the margin of that letter is the minister's response:

Inform Mr Coxen that the colonial architect has orders to prepare
plans of a museum with a view to immediate steps being taken to
build one 10 .

F.D.G. Stanley, the colonial architect, recommended that the Servants
Home in Ann Street— which is today the restored School of Arts
building— be purchased and altered to provide a home for the museum.
He estimated that £246 would be needed for the alterations but £30 could
be saved if the upper floor was left unfinished u . This plan was soon
abandoned. Meanwhile a third temporary home had been found for the
museum — further up Queen Street, in the accommodation vacated by the
General Post Office, when, in 1873, it moved to its present location at the
other end of the same street. Planning for a new museum building was
again deferred.

No I

KITCHEN

No 2
KITCHEN

Mo 2

Mo 4
SOLITARY CfcLLS
OUfEN STBEET

No 5
BARRACK SEPCEANTSQRS.

The General Post Office and the new
Brisbane City Hall about 1864. The
museum moved into the Post Office
building in 1873. The arched doorway to
the nght of the Post Office was the
entrance lo the solitary cells in Ihe days
of the convict settlement (photograph by
courtesy Oxley Library).

The Post Office Building

The building, standing between the site now occupied by Lennons
Hotel and George Street, had originally consisted of six apartments,
comprising barracks and sergeants quarters (Apartments 5, 6), solitary
cells (Apartment 4) and a house for the superintendent of convicts. In
1839, a free-man, William Whyte, in charge of the records in the
commandant's office and described as the commandant's clerk and
postmaster, moved into apartment 2 which became the Post Office. In 1864
a verandah was added to apartment 3 and to the kitchen of apartment 2
and both these rooms were combined to provide space for the General
Post Office. Apartments 5 and 6, which were where that part of Lennons
Hotel nearest George Street now stands, were demolished for construction
of the Brisbane Town Hall which was completed in 1864 \

In 1873 Staiger obtained rooms for an office and laboratory and a
larger one for a mineral display 7 and the next month asked for, and
received, additional space— the Long Room in the building 12 . However, it
was not long before it was recognised that the old Post Office building was
not an ideal home for a museum. Early in 1875, only two years after it had
moved in, A.C. Gregory, the Queensland government surveyor and
distinguished explorer reported to the secretary of Public Works:

The museum is at present located in the Old General Post Office, the
entrance being by a narrow passage from Queen Street. The

specimens are contained in a wooden building 20 feet by 72

feet The laboratory is 19 feet x 21 feet, badly lighted and

imperfectly ventilated. The lecture room is 15 feet x 26 feet and an
office and store room for arrangement of specimens is about lit feet x
24 feet, giving a total floor space of 1216 sq feet. These

buildings are unadapted to the purpose of the museum and there

is no available space for additions 13 .

Gregory recommended its sale, the land being of great value for
commercial premises, to realise —

a sum equal to the cost of building suitable premises in a better
position, for the main street of a city is not suited for such a purpose,
not only on account of the dust, but also (because) the class of

Built in 1879, this was the first building
constructed for the museum, which
occupied it until 1899. After the museum
moved to Gregory Terrace this building
became the State Library (photograph by
courtesy Oxley Library).

persons who visit Museums prefer a more quiet approach and space
where carriages can stand without risk of disturbances.

Further, Gregory thought it was—

not desirable that laboratory experiments and assays of minerals
should be conducted in a densely occupied locality.

Gregory's idea of a museum was that it would have space not only for
a building to contain specimens of minerals and natural history but also for
a laboratory with a small crushing machine and other machinery
(including furnaces) for the assay of metallic ores. The only three portions
of land in the hands of the government that appeared to him to be suitable
for this purpose were at the corner of George and Ann Streets on a site
occupied by the Volunteer Drill Room; vacant land at the corner of George
and Turbot Streets; and the irregular portion of land bounded by Roma
Street, Saul Street, and a street unnamed. The site he most strongly
recommended for a museum was the Brisbane Grammar School— since it
had been suggested that the school be removed following resumption of
some of its land for the Roma Street Station. In fact, his letter contains
details of the ways that the school buildings could be adapted to
accommodate the museum.

In 1876 the Queensland government gave, as the first task for the
museum's new board of trustees, the job of deciding on the site (see
Chapter 14). While these negotiations went on, the board sought temporary
accommodation into which the museum could expand. In June 1876 the

trustees acquired the detectives' room in the Post Office building, but
their efforts, in July 1876, to have the hospital dispensary moved were not
so successful. Therefore, when, on 6 February 1877, they were offered the
use of the railway messengers' waiting room at the Brisbane Station for
museum storage, the trustees saw a solution. On 29 May 1877 they wrote
to the minister —

strongly representing that the hospital dispensary should be
removed to the (Railway) messengers quarters and the two rooms at
present used for the former purpose be placed at the disposal of (the)
Board, attention being drawn to the desirability of this course,
particularly with regard to the injury caused to the museum by the
presence of so many HospitaJ patients and also the risk of fire caused

by the explosive materials being stored on the premises by the

hospital authorities 1,1 .

On 18 July 1877 the hospital dispensary at last vacated its two rooms
in the Post Office building which the custodian hoped then to be able to
use for the geological and mineralogicaJ collections^.

The First New Museum Building

The site that was eventually chosen for the first purpose-built
Queensland Museum was in William Street The building was completed
in 1879 and cost £10,706. It still stands— as the State Library and John
Oxley Library. The building was designed in the Colonial Architect's
Department under the supervision of the colonial architect, F.D.G. Stanley.
The building has concrete foundations, front walls of stone, the remainder
of brick finished with stucco, with a roof of copper. There was a basement
with a large room in which the board met and which was used for a
library; the curator's office — in which the Philosophical Society met from
20 April 1881 until de Vis was appointed curator in 1882; and a
taxidermist's room. The main entrance floor and an upper floor with a
mezzanine floor, 13 feet (4 metres) wide, were used for displays.
Additional space was created on 16 February 1881 when the rest of the
area beneath the building was levelled for use as storage for specimens
and other materials, although the floor was asphalted only in June 1882. In
October 1882 the basement was lit by gas. It was all a very great

The ground floor of the State Library in
1930. Apart from the mezzanine floor
which was added alter ihe m useum
moved out 30 years before, it is much as
it was when it was the museum. The
internal stairs to the basement can be
seen beneath the mezzanine— behind the
reception desk; the front entrance is to
the right of the photograph and the stairs
to the first floor are in the upper right
corner (photograph by courtesy Oxley
Library).

The Exhibition building from the air,
1981.

.-,* A'-

4jt\

improvement on the previous accommodation available to the museum,
which had vastly expanded its collections.

However, before long, as a result of the collecting programmes that
started from 1882, even this building proved to be too small, and in 1884
the government set aside a sum of £40,000 for another new building. In a
debate in the Legislative Assembly following this decision a Mr Morehead
voiced a widely held view of the William Street building in terms that
would do justice to some parliamentary debates today:

a more wretched abortion of a building was never evolved, even from

the brain of a Stanley He (Mr Morehead) was glad to hear that

something was to be done towards getting a new museum building
and he hoped some hon. members would be preserved in it 16 .

Mr Archer, in the same debate, suggested that 'he thought a museum
building should be on such a plan that it could be extended every ten or
twelve years' 16 . Eventually tenders were called for a new building in 1890
but none were accepted and the idea appears to have been dropped. The
depression occurred soon after, in 1893, and by the time it was over an
alternative had been found.

In 1895 the National Agricultural and Industrial Association of
Queensland (NALAQ) was in financial difficulties and could not service the
loan it had obtained for the construction of its new Exhibition building.
Accordingly in 1897 the government took over the building and plans were
put in hand to convert part of it for use as a museum 17 .

Exhibition building, elevation to south
(original architectural drawing in the
Works Department)

The Exhibition Building

The building, which was to be home for the Queensland Museum for
86 years, is an impressive blend of Romanesque, Byzantine and Baroque
influences in polychromatic brick work in a style generally known as
'Victorian Revival' architecture. At the time it was built it was unique in
Brisbane and it is one of the few examples of its style to be found in
Queensland. It is a well-known and much-loved landmark, now listed by
the National Trust of Queensland and the Australian Heritage Commission
as part of the National Estate.

It was built after the original timber exhibition building of the NAIAQ
(later the Royal National Association) was destroyed by fire— an act of
arson said to have been perpetrated by a lessee who used it for a skating
rink 17 . The NAIAQ decided to erect a more permanent structure and
engaged G.H.M. Addison to design a building on a 17 acre (6.8 hectares)
site in Bowen Park that was leased from the Acclimatisation Society w .

A contract was signed, on 9 February 1891, with the builder, John
Quinn, at an estimated cost of £20,400. This figure was to rise to over
£30,000 on completion. The contract time was 12 months, but the northern
wing was ready for occupation within 23 weeks. The roofing iron left
England in March and was in place by the 23 June 1891 Some 16 million
locally made bricks from the Brick Manufacturing Association were used.
The joinery was made on site where four steam engines were used to
power the milling machines. When the brickwork was being done there
were up to 300 men of all trades at work at one time 19 .

Lion to ^cxiin

The Exhibition building, probably taken

time of the 1897 International
Exhibition, the year of Queen Victoria's
Jubilee— celebrated in the banner
hanging over the front entrance in this
photograph.

At the time the Exhibition building was under construction
Queensland was in the grip of a severe economic depression and several
hundred tradesmen and labourers would queue outside the site gates
every morning in the hope of gaining employment. J.B. Chapel relates how
his father, a bricklayer, would leave home with his tool bag over his
shoulder at 4 am each day to walk from Greenslopes to the site so as to be
near the front of the queue 20 .

The architect, George Henry Male Addison, born in Llanelly, Wales in
1857 or '58, a graduate of the Royal Academy School of Architecture in
London, had come to Australia in 1883 soon after graduating. By 1886,
when he first came to Brisbane to work on the London Chartered Bank
building, he was a partner in the Melbourne firm of Terry, Oakden and
Addison 21 . Presumably it was during this project that he made the contacts
that resulted in his appointment as architect for the Exhibition building;
and subsequently resulted in his move to Brisbane. His other buildings
include Somerville House School, The Mansions in George Street and the
Albert Street Methodist Church.

In 1891, the year the Exhibition building was completed, the Crystal
Palace in London (also constructed speedily— in nine months) was then 40
years old, the Melbourne Exhibition building was 11 years old and the
Royal Pavilion at Brighton nearly 70 years old. These all refected the
fashion for flamboyant exhibition buildings and the Brisbane Exhibition
building was no exception. However, it was not only exhibition buildings
that influenced Addison's design— although it was built for a social
function, the Brisbane Exhibition building, externally, is reminiscent of a
cathedral.

In a florid lecture delivered before the Queensland Art Society, the
architect revealed his concept of the importance of architecture:

the embodiment of noble aspirations in the monuments of one

generation helps to keep those aspirations alive in the next and if

we are to continue to be a race capable of higher aims than
accumulating money and eating good dinners, we cannot afford to
ignore any of the agencies which help to develop man's higher ethical
nature. Amongst the most potent of these agencies are Architecture
and decorative Arts 22 .

Addison believed that every civilisation contributed its own
characteristic elements to architecture, each 'an exact index to the national
character that produced them'; and he believed in using these elements —
drawing on the old with the aim of reassembling it anew. If he liked a
feature and it could be of use, then he would fit it into the design.

In the Gregory Terrace building Addison combined many known
styles of architecture and added other exotic motifs to enhance the facade.
The decorative polychromatic brickwork and polygonal domes on the
towers are Byzantine; there are Moorish tiles on the portico; the arches
on the northern aspect are Romanesque and enclose decorative roundels;
there are traces of medieval towers and turrets in the southern — concert
hall— entrance; in the flat western facade there is a great Gothic
cathedral-style window that contrasts with the towers, turrets, dormers,
gable roofs and recessed arches of the other aspects of the building; and
the roof is corrugated iron. Constructive features aid the ornamentation 19 .
For instance the turrets contain internal staircases that once led to concert
balconies and the roundels outlined in decorative brickwork sometimes
contain a dormer window for extra light. However, although the facade is
elaborate and fanciful, it covers a very simple and plain building.

In England some buildings of the late Victorian era— Victoria Station,
the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth, Westminster Cathedral and Keeble
College in Oxford — illustrate the fact that Addison was not unique in
collecting many styles under one roof— or dome 23 . Eclecticism has really
always existed as architects from the Romans to the 20th century have
transferred remembered forms to new contexts. In the Exhibition building
as in many late Victorian buildings, invention was stimulated by the great
variety of forms from which to choose.

A Museum, A Concert Hall, An Art Gallery

The Exhibition building is T-shaped in plan. The northern wing (the
top of the T) was originally one open, single-storied exhibition hall with a
balcony at the eastern end and exposed steel Fink trusses supporting the
steeply pitched corrugated iron roof 34 . Arches led from this hall into the
southern leg of the T which again was open and single storied — a concert
hall with balconies on three sides.

In 1892 the NAIAQ had installed, in the concert hall, a large four-
manual organ from Henry Willis and Sons, London. In 1900 the Brisbane
City Council leased the concert hall from the state government, arid
bought the organ— £1000 of the £6000 purchase price being raised by
public subscription. Thus, the function of the concert hall did not change
from that intended by the NAIAQ when it was built 25 . It was used for
many functions. Paderewski gave recitals there and so did Dame Nellie
Melba. It was also used for University of Queensland graduation
ceremonies 26 .

When the new Brisbane City Hall was completed in 1930 the City
Council moved out of the Exhibition building, and the concert hall became
the home for the Queensland Art Gallery. Changes that were made to the
concert hall in 1930 to accommodate the art gallery included the removal

Addison's design for the terracotta tiles
over the front entrance to the concert
hall in the Exhibition building (original
architectural drawing in the Works
Department).

Demolition of the caretaker's cottage

near the railway line, 1973. The site was ^

used later as a car park.

of the concert platform and the jacking of the sloping floor up to a level
surface. The balconies were cut back and boxed in to cover the tiered
seating, platforms and partitions were erected to form offices and store
rooms and, again, staircases were altered. Clear storey lights were
installed in the roof. At some stage, possibly in the 1940s, a hessian ceiling
was suspended by wires over the exhibition space. In the late 1950s new
doorways were provided to the entrance.

It was the northern wing of the building, the exhibition hall, that was
converted to house the museum. On 7 May 1898 Director de Vis inspected
the building and discussed, with the colonial architect, the alterations that
would be required. It was estimated that they would cost £8000 and take
18 months to complete. The museum moved in between October and the
end of December 1899 and by that time the alterations had, indeed, been
completed. Arches between the two halls of the building were bricked up
and staircases had been altered. A first or mezzanine floor with three large
light wells had been added, leading off the eastern balcony. This floor was
supported on fluted columns of local hardwood with cornices and panelled
dados. The mezzanine and ground floor were to house the displays and the
basement of the building had been converted into offices for the museum
staff. A caretaker's cottage had been built in the grounds. The
specifications for the work included extensive repairs to brickwork and the
replacement of cracked lintels 27 — for, despite its much admired ornate
exterior, the enthusiasm and excessive haste of its construction, along
with the lack of foresight in detailing was the cause of major maintenance
problems from the beginning. At the board of trustees meeting on 26 May
1900 attention was called —

to the want of drinking water in the building Dr Marks

recommended the purchase of a Pasteur filter and the curator was

authorised to procure one The need of a urinal for the use of the

staff was also pointed out.

The trustees eventually left the matter in de Vis' hands. He intended
to divert a waste water pipe from the laboratory sinks to the urinal,
suggesting that chemical wastes and a constant flow of water 'would
alleviate any nuisance'— the trustees being worried about the odours
generated by a urinal. There is no further discussion of these problems

recorded in the board minutes and de Vis undoubtedly made some
arrangements. However, 10 years later Robert Etheridge jnr, curator of the
Australian Museum, was to describe them:

in a dark corner of the basement are some dirty hand basin(s) and
contiguous to them an unenclosed urinal-basin 28 .

There was no proper lavatory in the basement. Upstairs on the
ground floor were the earth closets for the use of visitors to the galleries.
The area was not sewered until 1927 and the museum was connected to
the sewerage only in 1930.

There was no love lost between the museum trustees and the original
lessees of the concert hall— the City Council. For one thing, the trustees
had wanted the concert hall for extra space for the museum. There was
also an extra insurance premium to be paid because the concert hall was
hired out for public functions; and, since the gas engine to operate the
organ was in the basement of the museum, the organ blower needed
access at difficult hours 29 . In their annual report of 1902, the museum
trustees refer to their neighbour in the Exhibition building:

Looking across the fields from the
museum to the Brisbane General
Hospital about 1920.

This much admired bushhouse,
photographed in 1906, was the work of
John Jordan, curator of the museum
gardens from 1897 to 1929 {Chapter 3 ^
Visitors could enter the museum through
the bushhouse and the eastern verandah
and so avoid the tell-tale at the front
entrance to the gallery {photograph by
courtesy Oxley Library).

[ pi .. : .. : . :

1-*

j — *-*-

^a.

Architectural drawings of the Exhibition
building showing alterations made for
the museum (redrawn from Works
Department drawings in Queensland
State Archives).

The erection of a Town hall in which to put their organ seems to be
indefinitely postponed. Meanwhile we are compelled to pay thrice
the ordinary premium for insurance against fire in consequence of
the concert hall being held to be in dangerous contact with the
museum.

At the board meeting of 31 March 1900 the trustees had decided that
the Department of Agriculture — from which the City Council leased the
concert hall— should pay the museum's extra insurance premium. They
reasoned that the department profited from the use that was made of the
concert hall. Of course the department refused. So in November the board
refused to pay a share of the rates. However, on 26 April 1902, its budget
halved as a result of the depression of the 1890s, the board had to stop
insuring the collections altogether and it finally agreed to contribute to the
rates.

A Fire Trap and a Joke

When the museum moved into the Exhibition building at the end of
1899 it had more space than ever before. However, the collections
continued their astonishing growth, and despite the alterations, the
building was never altogether satisfactory for a museum. The annual
report of the trustees for 1899 had predicted the problem of a shortage of
space right from the beginning— when they had not been successful in
getting the concert hall as well as the exhibition hall 30 .

In 1933 a Mr S.F. Markham, honorary secretary of the Museums'
Association of Great Britain, visited Brisbane on behalf of the Carnegie
Corporation of New York. He inspected the museum with Professor
Richards of the University of Queensland and they reported that the risk
of fire in the building was too high to be allowed to continue 31 . Almost a
year later Markham 's report, in which he referred to the museum building
as a fire trap, and a joke because it was so unsuitable, was released in
London. The Brisbane press was aghast that it should have been the cause
of such derision 32 . However the state was still in the grips of the great
depression and although the situation was deplored, the Courier Mail
editorial echoed what appeared to be the government's view— that too
many people took money out of Queensland instead of using it to endow
institutions such as the museum. Premier Forgan Smith said that his
government would welcome a new museum building, but should not bear
its whole cost 32 . So the old one continued to age and deteriorate.

Attendants mopping up storm water in
the main gallery in the 1960s.

In the late 1960s portions of the porch over the art gallery entrance
collapsed, and the leaking roof was causing damage to the collections of
both the museum and art gallery. At some expense the whole building was
re-roofed and the brickwork repaired. Unfortunately, the many box gutters
were repaired rather than replaced and the building continued to leak in
an unpredictable manner, particularly during hailstorms when the gutters
rapidly clogged with ice 33 . Rain, with its consequent risk of water damage
to the collections, was an ever-present fear, especially in the savage
storms of the summer months. Cyclonic storms provided several anxious
moments during the 1970s. One storm lifted the whole northern roof to the
extent that the roof purlins came off the fixing cleats. On another occasion
the large stained glass western window shook and threatened to collapse
as rain and wind battered it incessantly. Fortunately, apart from an
incident in 1917 when a projection lantern was knocked down in the bird
display, there were never any fires.

Cramped accommodation, Queensland
Museum 1982. The sections of molluscs
and mammalogy shared one internal
room, partially divided down the centre
with shelving. The entrance to the shell
collection is shown behind Curator J.
Stanisic's desk.

With the promulgation of the Queensland Museum Act 1970, the new
museum board was required to take over, from the government,
responsibility for the museum's insurance. Similarly the art gallery was
responsible for its own insurance. To satisfy their separate insurers, a
brick fire wall was built between the museum and the art gallery. The
museum installed a sensitive smoke detection system and moved the
spirit store from the centre of the basement to a new fire resistant
building in the grounds. At last there had been some response to
Markham's criticisms of 1933.

In 1973 a large outbreak of termite infestation was discovered.
Sporadic infestations had been recorded over the years. There is an
account from Dibbs and Co. dating from the late 1890s referring to
treatment for white ant 27 . In more recent years five different species of
termite have been found to be active in the building, the most troublesome
being the introduced West Indian termite Cryptotermes brevis. However,
the large holes in some of the hoop pine structural members that
workmen thought were signs of an infestation of giant borers in the

Artificer's shed, Queensland Museum.
1982.

A corner of the metals workshop,
Queensland Museum, 1982.

In 1974, after the Queensland Art Gallery
vacated it, the art and photography
sections of the museum occupied the
south wing — formerly the concert hall —
of the Exhibition building. Here the
displays for the new building on the
South Bank were prepared.

building were indeed the result of borers, but of marine borers that had
invaded the logs as they were originally rafted to sawmills or port facilities
in the Maryborough-Fraser Island or Logan river areas.

Investigations in 1973 resulted in the closure of the art gallery due to
concern over the stability q{ the concert [tall section of the building and
continuing leaking during heavy rain. Rout trusses uf hoop pine which
were over-stressed to nearly 7 mPa in full section, had been eaten out by
Up to lO'/'c of the section and some areas — fortunately under minor
stress — had been eaten out completely. The roof trusses were repaired
with steel cord stiffeners and tie rods and, in 1974, the museum
expanded into the space vacated by the art gallery 1 It was used as work
areas lot the art, photography and geology sections of the museum and
this alleviated the pressures elsewheu-

However, more and more adjustments had to be made to a building
that was urgently in need of restoration and that was required to house a
staff that had grown from four persons when it first occupied the buildii
to 25 in 1970, and that was to grow to 75 in 1980. More space was needed
for staff accommodation, workshops and laboratories, storage for the
growing collection and more and better display facilities to satisfy a more
sophisticated public that was used to the visual impact of modern
television presentations.

A large galvanised iron shed was used to house part of the techni
collection and the workshop. Later, prefabricated buildings were set up in
the grounds to house the conservation laboratory, preparators, artificers,
education and maritime archaeology sections and the administration staff!
In the main building, the earth-floored basements were sealed with
concrete — although they continued to be referred to, affectionately, as the
earth basements— to create storage areas for the ever-growing history,
technology, and geology collections; and the five species of termite, thus
disturbed from their usual routes, made new and alarming appearances.
Every summer, storms created acute risk of water damage to valuable
collection items. Damp walls creating high humidity were frequent hazards
and required constant vigilance and enterprise on the part of curators —
especially those responsible for anthropology and Australian ethnography
collections that were housed along the outer walls

A Museum worthy of the City and the State

The board of trustees, as one of its first tasks following its re-
esiablishment in 1970, had begun to urge the state government to make
provisions for adequate housing for its museum, and to consider sites for a
new building (see Chapter 14). Eventually, it was the state government's
decision to develop, on the south bank of the Brisbane River, a cultural
complex that would include the museum, theatres and the state library, as
well as the art gallery. The new museum building was stage 3 of this
project.

Robin Gibson of Brisbane was the architect chosen for the Cultural
Centre. The white concrete buildings, spread along the rivet bank opposite
the main commercial and administrative centre of the city, have brought
Brisbane to the forefront of urban architecture. The six climate-controlled
levels of the museum building, rising behind the art gallery, include all the
facilities needed — facilities that previously have not been available to the
museum nor, indeed, to many museum's elsewhere.

There are three display floors comprising 5,000 square metres and an
extfii uaJ geological garden. On the upper two stories are offices,
laboratories, collection storage areas and the library. On the first floor,

Collection storage in the Varth

basement'. Queensland Museum, 1982.

■A

which at its southern end contains lecture theatres and classrooms for the
education section, are art and prepartorial sections, photography studios
and dark rooms, artificers and metal workshops, aquarium room, live
animal room, deep freeze, skeletal and fossil preparation and sorting areas.
Architect Robert Wilson has been the consultant to the museum to help
plan the fittings it would need in the new building. Solved, at last, is the
problem of a refreshment room for visitors that confounded the board of
trustees when, on 23 February 1901 it sent a deputation to discuss the
matter with the minister. Solved also are the serious conservation
problems arising from overcrowding, humidity, variable temperature and
rainwater that through the years have challenged the museum's capacity
to preserve the material record of the state's history.

The Queensland Museum will assuredly continue its development.
Branches to interpret and display aspects of the state's history and to
serve the communities in regional centres are now opening, and more are
being planned. However, for the foreseeable future, the museum will have
as its headquarters and focus of its activities this fine and well-equipped
new building, that will help it to execute its wide and diverse
responsibilities more effectively than at any other time in its history.

A new building for the museum in the
Queensland Cultural Centre. l£ft: under
construction, 1982; below, nearing
completion, 1984 — the museum is in the
centre of the picture, the windows of the
two upper levels looking north across the
roof of the art gallery (centre foreground).

LOYAL AND

ZEALOUS

SERVICE

The Staff

Previous page: Museum staff in the early
1920s. Standing L to R: A. Fenwick,
librarian; William Baillie, attendant;
Thomas C. Marshall, assistant
preparator; A. Gorman, attendant; R.V.
Smith, attendant. Seated: Eileen Murphy,
stenographer; Heber A. Longman,
director; Henry Hacker, entomologist.
Absent: E. Varey, attendant.

The staff establishment of the museum grew very slowly
indeed, and from time to time suffered serious setbacks
associated with the economic depressions and wars that
alternated through the long middle years of its history. Between
1873 and 1945, through the good years, the retrenchments and
subsequent recoveries, the staff sometimes numbered four and seldom
was more than 12. Only once, in 1912, had the numbers risen to 15.

It was the successive curators-in-charge, ultimately called directors,
who determined the direction that the institution took and who
simultaneously did the work of administrators, accountants, public
relations and education officers and curators right up to the expansion of
the past two decades. However, almost without exception, those who
served under these men did so with loyalty and zeal, for without both the
museum could not have operated and it may not have survived.

The Slow Beginning 1862-1893

At first, in 1862, in the Windmill on Wickham Terrace, there were the
members of the Philosophical Society: the vice-president Charles Coxen
and H.C. Rawnsley who, with taxidermist E. Waller, had given collections
of birds and shells 1 . Probably Silvester Diggles, who was to be one of the
society's honorary curators from 1869, was helping too. Elizabeth Coxen
may have been there — arranging the shells. In 1868 they moved the
collections down into the Parliamentary building in Queen Street after
cases were damaged by rain in the Windmill. C. D'Oyly H. Aplin, formerly
the government geologist for south Queensland, and his assistant, Hacket,
worked there arranging and cataloguing mineralogical specimens from the
end of June to September 1871 Despite Aplin s attempts to become the
museum curator he was forestalled by Coxen, who almost certainly had a
good prior claim and had friends in high places— the minister was a
member of the Philosophical Society —whereas Aplin was a relative
newcomer. However, the main reason was that although the government
had requested that any geological specimens collected by government men
and held by the Philosophical Society be handed over to Aplin for display,
the Philosophical Society maintained that it was responsible for much of it
until such time as a public museum was erected. So, in October 1871 the
minister for Public Works did the next best thing. He satisfied the society's
scruples by appointing its vice president— Coxen— as honorary curator of a
public museum in the Parliamentary building 1 - 2 (see Chapter 4). Aplin,
having been informed 'that the government is not prepared to incur any
further expenditure for increasing the collection or for continuing my
services' 3 was told to hand over the collections to Coxen. There were no
other staff members— visitors were admitted by the parliamentary
messengers 2 (see Chapter 2). Coxen's was the first official appointment to
the museum. He worked there on his own until, in 1873, the government
appointed a permanent officer, Karl Staiger, as custodian of the museum
and government analyst, although Coxen appears to have had the primary
responsibility for the museum until the board was appointed. The natural
history and mineralogical collections must have been moved from the
Parliamentary building to accommodation in the Post Office building soon
after Staiger's appointment 4 .

Coxen observed that revenue from Staiger's assay work between
November 1873 and July 1874 was 'more than equal to the salary received
by Mr Staiger' 5 . Despite his involvement with assays, Staiger was
concerned about the natural history collections, complaining that he did
not have appropriate reference books to identify zoological material (see

Chapter 13). It was probably Staiger's efforts that made it possible for the
trustees to comment that —

In regard to the condition of the museum at the time the present
trustees entered on their charge, they desire to record their opinion,
that taking into consideration the great difficulties their
predecessors had to encounter, the condition and arrangement of the
collections reflects the highest credit on their administration 6 .

When the board of trustees was appointed, early in 1876, Coxen had
relinquished his role as honorary curator. At the board meeting of 21
March 1876— a few months before he died — he seconded a unanimous
resolution that the government be asked to formally appoint Staiger as
curator as he was 'at present performing all the duties of that office
without the title'. Apparently Staiger, rather than the board, had taken
over Coxen's duties. Nevertheless, Staiger's title was not changed — he

Charles Coxen, founder of the
Queensland Museum and its honorary
curator from 1871.

REQriSrTJON tot tti<j uml.-r-raeutninea A.W1CLE5 for Uie Oic of /ft& W &a^c£S Js&<&*4*Z?*3n

A.-1L

ITTH.T 1 t >KI ■.lit .ITltUl

■jrirnrm or ui'

>J*« ■■ **TI.-Vi. *MjrniH;

.r.nj_[ ICITUlT I>

Ittt* ii' iv.

.-.«* ••uniw

.■Jl.
to this department as the highest botanical authority in the colony,
and that they are continually applying lor information regarding

nomenclature, etc,, etc 1 may state that a very large proportion of

the Queensland flora has been collected together, named, and
classified, so as to be of easy access for persons desirous of referring
there to,

I hope from the foregoing it will be seen that I have tried to lay the
foundation of a useful Botanical Department and that at
comparatively little cost to the colony*

He goes on to say that he does most of his work at his 'private

residence there being no room at my disposal ar the present museum'.

that the museum building and the herbarium cabinets are totally
inadequate, that he hopes his department will be allocated all the space it
in the new building, and he asks for a free railway pass 9 . Bailey and
the herbarium, moved to William Street a few months later with the rest
of the museum (see Chapter 4).

Meanwhile, on 21 November 1879, just before the museum moved into
its new building, the board of trustees had begun to look for a curator —
they wanted *a suitable man of scientific attainments'. William Haswell's
name was mentioned by several of the trustees as 'although quite a young

man (he was) already well known in scientific periodical literature ' "'

and it was resolved to adjourn for a week to consult him. The trustees
believed that he would be content with what they knew to be a very
inadequate salary, but one that they could lay their hands on by diverting
funds from those set aside for the collection. Fortunately they did not have
to do that — Haswells salary of £200 a year was chargeable to 'unforeseen
expenditure', pending a vote by the legislature' 1 . Even Staiger as custodian

gentleman hete photographed with
ife Is thought to be Karl Theorior
Staiger, cuetodun of the Queensland
Museum 1873 79 [by oilurtesy a\

Stai^cr'^ grandson, K.'I Staiger, ul hiim
Beach, Queensland).

had received an annual salary of £350, while the head of the Queensland
Geological Survey was receiving £700 a year. Although Haswell did accept
the low salary, he was assured that it was temporary.

At the end of 1879, after Haswell had been appointed, Staiger clashed
with one of the trustees— W.H. Miskin. It appears to have been a rather
contrived complaint that Staiger made. Perhaps, as Miskin suggested 12 , he
was disappointed at not being promoted to the top job in the museum.
What Staiger did was to spread a story, through taxidermist Alder— who
also may have wanted to discredit Miskin, that Miskin had taken
advantage of his position as a trustee by misappropriating butterflies from
some cabinets purchased by the board for the museum. Miskin established
that he had bought butterflies refused by the museum in 1876, and that
those purchased by the museum in January 1878 had not been removed
either by himself or anyone else— although they had been lost through
neglect. In fact, Miskin's comments about Staiger are not at all kind, and it
appears that the custodian may have fallen out of favour with the trustees
(see Chapter 14). Haswell took up the position of curator on 27 December
1879 and Staiger left, taking his chemical assistant, R. Taylor with him (see
Appendix 1).

Queensland Museum.

Mrisiane Ums^.,l^TS^>

<_s^fa

emeiandam.

@$ crr-<?rAsJL. eJieeting of ike

Srustee-s will he held at the *Jlu$eum on

j4\uM>of^J.

the [%Z...t^!.-. at &5V~p m.

BUSINESS :

Haswell calls a meeting to inform the fp% .

board that he has been offered a position t -nf-

in Sydney. * m ^/C - <•

To help Haswell establish the museum in the new building, an
experienced taxidermist — E. Spalding— was appointed in J urn 1880
Chapter 4). There was a carpenter, Thomas SkLnnei, sometimes wii
assistant and there were now two messengers, J. Cormack, whu had been
appointed in June, before Haswell arrived, and J- Lane who had succeeded
Walker at the beginning of 1880. Haswell was secretary to I I
its proceedings are recorded in his youthful hand— the stl - he

clerk, R. Newton, having been dispensed with on the curator's arrival The
addition of a real taxidermist to the staff in place of Curtis who did the
skinning in Staiger's time was undoubtedly an improvement, as was the
additional messenger. However the museum's new building was very
much larger than its previous home and there were still only five stall
members and the keeper of the herbarium — not an overall improvement.
Any hopes that might have been held lor an expanding establishment were
dashed when it become obvious that Haswell* 1 - salarj would not be
increased and he left in November 1880 At a special meeting of the board
on 12 November 1880—

th** Curator stated that he had contemplated sending in I

resignation as curator in consequence of the apparent ! i ion

of the Government, as expressed in the recent Parliamentary d
upon the museum vote— With respect to the salary ol The Curator
He laid before the Board an offer he had received by telegraph of an
appointment in Ihe Australian Museum at Sydney at a much hi.
salary.

At a subsequent meeting on 18 November, the trustees deliberated at
length upon the matter, and decided to inform the government that the
curator's salary should be increased and —

that unless such increase is sanctioned the Trustees will be unable to
retain Mr Haswell 's servia ure a compe i act in

his place and that under such circumstances the institution cannot,
be carried on eithet with credit to the Trustees or benefit to the
public.

Then Haswell went to Sydney on leave. By 14 December he had
resigned and the under secretary' had appointed Bailey temporary curator.
However, Haswell did not go immediately to the Australian Museum. He
was a demonstrator in the zoology department of Sydney University m
1882; in 1883 he was acting curator of the Australian Museum while
Ramsay, the curator, was away overseas; and in 1890 he was appointed id
the chair of zoology in Sydney University 1 *-*. As Mack has said, it is
probable that Haswell would still have gone to Sydney even if his salary
had been higher' L \ Nevertheless it was a disappointment that it should
have happened in less than a year During his short tenure he had begun
to improve the library and the displays and had given the board and the
community a new confidence in the museum.

All through 1881 F.M. Bailey, the keeper of the herbarium, was
temporary curator. The taxidermist, one carpenter and the two
messengers were the only other staff members. Bailey WBS also secretary
to the board, which was, no doubt, a chore he could have done without.
Nevertheless he appears to have done it meticulously. He was a prodigious
worker and had built up a good reputation for his botanical knowledge. He
collaborated with the Rev. J.E. Temson Woods in producing a Census of the
Flora of Brisbane published in 1880 and had held an appointment as
botanist to the board inquiring into diseases of livestock and plants at the
same time as he was keeper of the herbarium in the museum, He also
travelled around the state— the museum board had eventually got him a

1879-80.

de Vis accepts the position of curator.

free rail pass — building up the herbarium collections. The museum
appears to have run smoothly while he was in charge but he was only a
caretaker in the position and was more intent on advancing the cause of
the herbarium than of the museum. Nevertheless, it is surprising that
neither in T. Harvey Johnston's nor C. T. White's accounts of F.M. Bailey's
life and work is there an accurate reference to his nine years in the
museum. In fact, his surveys of poisonous plants, grasses and native
pastures were all done while a member of the museum's staff 16 .

Bailey's hopes for space in the new museum building were not
realised. In October 1383 L.A. Bernays, who had been a member of the
museum board of trustees in 1878-9, and had worked consistently to
develop the herbarium, was to write:

<U£*, ^(^L^rC/^ McZ* Stay UT&eJL&cL ^Jf*^

1 cannot conceive a more important Branch of Museum work (than
economic botany)— with the assistance of Sir Joseph Hooker, Mr
Bailey has made some progress toward an illustrative collection:
which, however, I regret to find is, together with an Excellent
Foundation for a Herbarium, gradually but surely being squeezed out
of the Building, owing to insufficient accommodation for other
branches of scientific illustrations 17 .

Soon after this Bailey was to be appointed colonial botanist and would
leave the museum taking the herbarium with him.

Meanwhile, before Haswell left, there were some rumours about loss
of specimens during the move to William Street 18 (see Chapter 8). These
rumours, probably compounded by Haswell's resignation, prompted the
government to set up a select committee to enquire into the operation of
the museum 19 . The trustees, in their annual report for 1882, thank the
government for its response to their needs and it is probable that some of
the improvements in the next decade resulted from this enquiry 15 . In fact
the improvement started in 1881 when geology collector A. Macpherson
was appointed.

On 2 February 1882 the 53 year-old Charles de Vis became curator on
a salary of £400— exactly twice the sum Haswell had received. He was
recommended by Mr Archer of 'Gracemere', just outside Rockhampton —
where de Vis was then living 20 . The Rev. Tenison Woods who was then
collaborating with Bailey on botanical works also supported his
application 21 . When de Vis took over, taxidermist Spalding was still on the
staff, as were the carpenter and the two attendants. Newly appointed as
clerical assistant was an entomologist, Henry Tryon, who also looked after
invertebrates 22 . Kendall Broadbent was engaged as zoological collector at
£3 per week from May 1882 until March 1883. de Vis did not think they
would be able to do without him, and indeed it was not long before he had
created a vacancy to which Broadbent could be appointed. On 1 May 1883
de Vis reported that 'he had been compelled to suspend' messenger
Cormack because—

He came in a state of drunkenness to his post on Sunday last and
after being sent home returned contrary to orders and still drunk.

Alexander Macpherson, the geological collector, was brought in from
the field to replace Cormack and Broadbent was appointed collector in
Macpherson's place. Broadbent was a zoological collector and he remained
in that position from 1882 to 1893. By contrast there was a succession of
geological collectors between 1882 and 1893— Macpherson, H.F. Wallman,
E.B. Lindon, H. Hurst and H.G. Stokes (see Chapter 6).

From January 1885 Tryon's title was changed to assistant curatcr, but
he continued with the clerical work until, in April 1887, de Vis reported to
the board that —

the assistant curators investigation into the life histories of the
various insect and other enemies encountered by fruit-growers and

into the means if any of preventing their ravages had made it

impossible for him to prevent clerical work falling into arrears.

So the board appointed a young man, Henry Hurst, on trial and
without pay, to assist with the clerical and library work. Hurst became
geological collector on 5 August 1887 after Lindon left, but for the time
being he also continued with the clerical duties. On 7 December 1888 'a
supernumerary officer', Mr Charles Hedley, later of the Australian
Museum, had been retained 'at the rate of £100 per annum' to deal with
the Mollusca, thus releasing Tryon to work on insects exclusively.

However, Hedley only stayed a year before he went to Sydney.

It is apparent from the minutes of the board, and also from the letters
sent to the curator from collectors m the field, that there was a general
enthusiasm to increase the collections. Broadbent wrote from Herberton
in northern Queensland with the information that Australian Museum
collectors were 'in the district, so 1 am informed. Birds ! think are new. I
must send you quick to name'"'. Henry Hurst, the shy, timid young
geological collector wrote from Chinchilla that he was returning to
Brisbane with nearly 3000 specimens'- 1 . Money was never plentiful but
somehow the collectors managed. An extra hand, Patrick Wall, was
employed in October 1887 to accompany Hurst on a 70-day collecting trip
on the Darling Downs. Hurst wrote to de Vis from Chinchilla on 5
November reporting progress and including a plea:

C \m lea Walter de Vis, curator/direc I

Hie Queensland Museum 18&- 1905

Rat has begged to me t») ask you to advance his wife a pound on
account of wages. I don't know whether you are disposed to do so
and I would not have troubled you had he not told me that she was
next door to starving. If this is realty the case it would be rather hard
if she could not obtain ir *'.

On 20 November, in another letter from Hurst telling de Vis of the
fossils he is finding, the concluding paragraph reads —

Pat tells me you gave his wife £2.18.0 instead of £1 and says he did
not want her to get so muc.

On 4 January 1889 de Vis reported that he had instructed Broadbent
to collect insects as well as birds, mammals, reptiles and fossils. Broadbent
replied that he would, but *next season', de Vis offered his Sunday
allowance to pay an insect collector 'if a subordinate' could replace him (de
Vis) in the museum on Sundays. It is not clear where the money to pay the
subordinate would have come from had de Vis' offer been accepted.
Instead, the trustees decided to appoint insect collector C.J. Witd. Then, on
5 June 1891, a 'boy assistant' to help with clerical duties, A. Preston, was
appointed at six shillings a week to relieve Hurst and leave him free for
mineralogical work. Thus, by 1891, in addition to the curator and assistant
curator, there were two messengers, a taxidermist, a carpenter, three
collectors, and a clerk/library' assistant on the staff— the high point to that
time.

On 5 June 1891 'inconveniences resulting from the decrepitude of the
attendant, Alexander Macpherson, whose old age incapacitates him for the
performance of the duties of his office' were reported, and he was replaced
by Joseph Spiller. Hurst was dismissed toward the end of 1891 having
abandoned his post — he had disappeared from Brisbane' 7 . He was next
heard of as a member of the South Australian Museum's expedition to
Lake CaJlabonna, helping to excavate and retrieve Pleislocene marsupials,
including the first complete skeleton of a diprotodon^ No doubt his
experience as a geological collector on the Darling Downs was useful to
him on this occasion. He was replaced as geological collector by Stokes.

Meanwhile, there had been problems developing in other
departments of the museum. Tryon's relations with de Vis and the board
had deteriorated from the beginning (see Chapter 9). A continuing source
of friction was that Tryon's services were much in demand by the
Department of Agriculture — conflicting with his work in the museum and
undermining de Vis" and the board's authority. On 6 April 1888 the board
minutes record that —

the assistant curator absent from duty during most of the latter part
of the month. No official intimation that his services were required
elsewhere had been received, but it is understood that he has
received instructions from the Colonial Secretin, _

On 7 December 1888 the curator informed the board that —

the official relations between himself and the assistant curator had
been for some time strained in consequence of the disrespectful and
antagonistic attitude assumed towards himself (by the assistant
curator).

When the board suggested that a position of entomological assistant
be created, de Vis, with alacrity, suggested that the position of assistant
curator be dispensed with and the salary associated with it be transferred
to the new position. It does not appear to be a device to get rid of Tryon,
but to get rid of him as assistant curator. The trustees did not agree— they
pointed out that as assistant curator Tryon was bound to accept de Vis'

directions and nothing would be gained by making a change in his title. So,
they continued on together, the board reaffirming the curator's authority
from time to time and insisting on its own initiatives in regard to Tryon's
services to the Department of Agriculture. It was reported, on 5 July 1889,
that Tryon had undertaken another report for the Department of
Agriculture without the board's approval. It had, accordingly, withheld his
salary* for a month, and observed that he should be transferred to another
department. On 3 January 1890 the board had intercepted Tryon's
application, direct to the minister, for a railway pass— he was informed
that the application would be made by the curator and he was reminded
that 'all officers of the museum must address all official communications to
the curator only from whom they will take instructions as to the work they
will undertake*. Then Tryon tried to leave— he was an applicant for a post

•X€ -"■£/"

Elizabeth Coxen writes to the trustees
offering to execute commissions for the
museum in London. She purchased a
Stock of glass eyes for bird mounts.

-ft &/vj?i%^*z-*~?*-^

<r->.

^C^A^T-i

/->*-

&~7—

/ j^

'ffd s&^o^'&i/ ^^-Cy^t??-*- &fc?<-£^?/c^

t^Un^' y ' r /r$

in the New South Wales Department of Agriculture in May 1890— but
apparently was not successful. At one stage the board commented that the
Department of Agriculture should get 'an officer of their own to do their
work'. Neither the trustees nor de Vis were absolutely opposed to Tryon's
expertise being used by other departments — it was an advertisement for
the museum. What did irritate them was that the —

services of the assistant curator had been repeatedly given to the
Department of Agriculture which had published the resulting
iniorrnatiori cm its own authority without giving the museum the
slightest credit for it as its only soun

Eventually the board resolved that Tryon's services could be available
to the department only if his reports were addressed to the museum
board — for communication 'at option' to the Department of Agriculture-'.

Tryon was in effect, the agricultural entomologist: for the state— a fact
the board recognised when on 5 August 1892 it suggested that the
department supply some funds to support these activities. When, on 2
September, that was refused the board refused Tryon's services. On 6
January 1893 a letter in that day's Courier concerning friction between the
agricultural department and the museum was referred to by the board as
'not worthy of further notice'. The museum may reflect now that it is
unique in Australia in having provided to its government, albeit reluctantly
and unacknowledged, 10 years of sound advice for the pastoral industry
through Bailey's work on poisonous plants, grasses and native pastures
and followed this with a further 10 years of advice from Tryon on applied
agricultural entomology.

Just before the economic collapse of 1893 Tryon was accused of being
less than discrete in his behaviour toward a young woman in the public
galleries 30 , it is clear that every effort was being made to establish some
grounds for his dismissal. This was not successful. Tryon's defence was
that he had been solicited. In those days, as in other museums in Australia
and in the rest of the world, the museum, being open to the public, was a
place often frequented by prostitutes (jaee Chapter 5). The charges against
him were not substantiated and on 7 April 1893 Tryon's suspension was
lifted. However, most of the trustees wanted him to be transferred and the
chairman, Norton, just wanted him to go.

K. ndall Brofldbent, doyen of collectors,
in the late 1870s (photograph tent by his,
;; SJ. Ressner erf GrecevHIe).

The Desperate Years, 1893-1910

Then, a few months later, in June 1893, the economic depression
descended inexorably on the museum. The minister asked the board to
reduce its estimates and to consider retrenchments. The board avoided
this, the minutes recording—

that it did not (eel it necessary to propose any change, either by-
dispensing with the services of any rnembi r ol 1 he Staff « >r bj the
reduction of salaries, as it was generally understood that a redaction
of salary throughout the service would be made bj the government.

Ten days later, on 19 June, the only reply from the government was to
repeat its request. Curator de Vis was asked to withdraw from the
meeting, and on his return was directed to record resolutions dispensing
with the services of the assistant curator Tryon, geological collector
Stokes, attendant Spiller, messenger Lane, and carpenter Skinner. The
zoological and entomological collectors — Broadbent and Wild —were to
become attendant and messenger respectively. The board recommended
that both Spalding and de Vis retain their positions; de Vis did, but
apparently Spalding was retrenched with the others, There was a

suggestion that Spalding be retained for one day per week to keep insects
out of the cabinets but there is no evidence that this occurred and five
years iater, on 5 February 1898, the board was to receive a letter from him
seeking a job— there were stil! none available. It was a desperate time.
Preston the young clerk/librarian, who was only paid 6 shillings a week,
retained his job. de Vis' salary went from £400 to £300.

Actually, most of the trustees were not unhappy about the loss of
Tryon but Bancroft always had dissented from resolutions that Tryon be
dismissed. He did again on this occasion and his minority view was
recorded:

the inconveniences which he feared would result from the loss of the
assistant Curator's services urging that they should be retained in
the colony if not in the museum n

For a while Tryon was allowed to use a room in the museum and the
library, although his use of the insect collection was to be supervised.
Eventually, the board objected to him referring to his 'permanent room in
the museum' 32 and he went to the Department of Agriculture, later
becoming government entomologist and a very influential man in the
state ^ (see Chapter 9).

So, de Vis, Broadbent and Wild, with the young clerk Preston's help,
were left to run the museum. Preston left in 1896 and was replaced by AJ.
Norris on 5 April 1897 and then G.H. Hawkins from 1898. Spiller was
reappointed on 5 April 1897 to relieve Broadbent and Wild, so that they
could do some work on the collections and occasionally get out into the
field, and he stayed until 1902. Only once did the board have occasion to
refer to his behaviour. On 27 August 1898 de Vis reported that a Mrs
Kennet of Sydney had been offended by Spiller's behaviour in the gallery.
The trustees observed that Spiller was of good character, the charge was
not proven, and in future attendants should not engage in conversation
with visitors except on the subject of the exhibitions, de Vis framed the
following regulation:

Grave inconveniences having arisen from attendants while on duty
in the public rooms allowing themselves to be drawn into
conversation with, or volunteering information to visitors. They are
instructed to refrain altogether from addressing visitors except in
the maintenance of Order. They afe required to confine themselves
to brief but courteous answers about exhibits and they are warned to
be especially careful to avoid making to each other, within the
hearing of visitors, remarks which may be misconstrued and
complained of as offensive.

During these years of economic stringency, when the staff consisted
of five people, everyone did several jobs. The board minutes of 6 April
1899 record that one weekend the attendant, Spiller, and the clerical
assistant, Hawkins, were given railway passes to the Darling Downs and
Toowoomba to do some collecting but found nothing to collect; while Wild
had collected 156 species on the range during his Easter holidays.

At the end of 1899 preparations were made to move into the
Exhibition building. From 2 October two packers, three carpenters and
four labourers were appointed to help with the move. Soon after, one of
the labourers, Baxter, was dismissed — drunk— and the other two left
before 3 March 1900. Just after the opening, on 26 January 190L de Vis
took the opportunity provided by the board meeting to express 'pleasure
in being able to say that all employed in the reinstallation of the museum
have rendered loyal and zealous service'. He certainly made every effort to
keep them all in employment.

Dickson, the fourth of the extra hands, had become the night
watchman. Unfortunately, on 1 January 1901 de Vis, who then was living in
tht caretaker's cottage near the railway line, found him asleep at 8 pm and
again at 5 am the next morning, so he was dismissed and replaced with
F.G. Smedley. The building was then in a rural setting— cows used to
stray into the grounds 35 — afld it must have been dark and lonely at night.
On 30 March 1901 it was suggested that Smedley be supplied with a
revolver 'for protection' on the advice of the police, but in April the Police
Commissioner advised that it was not necessary. Of the three carpenters
hired for the reinstallation, one, A. Norris may have been the A.J. Norris,
clerical assistant, who had resigned in 1898. He did not remain on the
payroll for very long. A.S. Russell stayed until April 1901 as assistant to J.
Berry who became the museum's carpenter. The packers, Ern Lower and
Joseph Lamb, became label writer-librarian and assistant messenger
respectively; their appointments were approved by the government on 23
February M)l at the same time as that of J.A. Smith as mineralogist— he
had originally been hired on 31 March 1900 as an 'extra hand* temporarily
engaged to prepare mineral exhibits. A gardener, W. Hedges was also
appointed. It was the only time there was ever a gardener on the museum
staff— probably the appointment was made to help J. Jordan, the head
gardener, who was employed by the Department of Agriculture"
Broadbent and Wild were still the attendants and Hawkins the clerical
assistant. Thus, at the beginning of 1901 the staff had again risen to nine —
about the same size but not as well qualified as it had been when de Vis
first became curator It was also in 1901, on 23 February, that the board
recommended that de Vis' title change to 'director from 'curator*. Actually
he had been so styling himself for some time.

There was a brief attempt to increase the professional staff by
appointing J.D. Ogilby, a well qualified ichthyologist from Sydney who hail
been recommended by the curator of the Australian Museum, R.
Etheridge jnr. It is said of Ogilby, who was a son of a distinguished British
zoologist and had studied at Trinity College, Dublin, that he had an
extreme and undiscriminating affinity for alcohol' w . It was on this account
that he had been dismissed from the Australian Museum in 1890. He had
worked on contract to that institution until appointed to the Queensland
Museum where 'the fishes were said to have been kept in formalin rather
than alcohol' u . Ogilby took up duty as assistant in zoology on 27 April 1901
On 29 June 1901 it was de Vis' —

painful duty to report repeated grave misconduct on the part of the

newly appointed assistant in natural history Monday morning he

came on duty and remained ail day secluded in his room. At 5 pm it
was reported to me that he was still there and in so peculiar
condition that he could not be induced to leave.

Ogilby resigned a month later and, despite his request, was not even
given approval to use the laboratory. The board wanted to fill Ogilby's
position, an ichthyologist being considered important to the fishing
industry. A Mr R. Hall came from Melbourne and completed a
probationary three months as assistant curator. The board recommended
his appointment on 24 December 1901 but the minister would not approve
it and Hall had to go back to Melbourne. Meanwhile Ogilby sought
permission to work in the museum, refer to collections and use the library.
Occasionally he was admitted but usually he was not. Then he was
appointed as a 'supernumerary' to the museum as a result of an appeal he
made to the Department of Agriculture. Payment of 30 shillings a week

was to be from contingency funds. On 14 November 1903 the trustees
placed on record 'that this appointment was made without their
knowledge' and next month qualified their acceptance of the appoiniment
by making it 'subject to immediate retirement if such should be deemed
advisable'. On 30 January' 1904 the board decided that 'Ogilby's connection
with the museum should altogether end', and subsequently it refused his
request for a supply of foolscap paper Nevertheless. Ogilby's connection
with the museum did not end. He was to be appointed part-time
ichthyologist in 1913 in the days of Hamlyn-Harns,

Economic recovery was slow and again, on 26 April 1902, there were
retrenchments. Everyone lost his job except de Vis, Broadbent, Wild, and
the so-called mineralogist J.A. Smith. This time the clerical assistant,
Hawkins, also had to go. The staff was back to five, Later Smith resigned
and Joseph Lamb— one of those retrenched — was given his job f again
demonstrating de Vis' attempts to keep his staff in employment. The board
allowed Wild to take the title 'entomologist' — in fact he was looking after
the insect .ollection, By 26 July 1902 carpenter Berry was living in the
Ljretaker s cottage, de Vis having found it too dusty and noisy. His part-
time services as carpenter were retained, his accommodation serving in
lieu of wages, de Vis made two attempts to return to the cottage — one only
5 months after he had left it and again on 26 September 1903. However,
the board did not support him and Berry continued to live there with his
family until 1910.

The retrenchments of 1893 and 1902 must have distressed de Vis,
nevertheless he carried on, probably doing more himself and suffering a
£10U cot in his salary, which increased slightly to £330 from 1902, but
which was never restored to the k'400 it had been when he was first
appointed. It was supplemented with payments from contingencies for
Sunday work— amounting to about £50 a year On 28 May 1904 he
certainly complained about the possibility of being deprived of the
supplement at a time when his salary was reduced again to £300.

Despite the depression, the new museum accommodation and the
small staff, de Vis continued with his research, managing the museum, and
detailing every aspect of the institution's operations in his reports to the
board It was a time of remarkable expansion of the collections. There was
the material that BToadbenl and the other collectors had obtained in the
1880s as well as that from members of the public who had been alerted by
de Vis himself to the intrinsic interest of the fauna and the museum's role
to investigate and to preserve samples of it. There was material sent by
those who had seen the monthly board proceedings published in the press
and there was material from people with whom de Vis maintained a
prolific correspondence and from whom he solicited donations.
Ethnological material from New Guinea and the New Hebrides had begun
to arrive in 1388 including the collections authorised by John Douglas— a
museum trustee and special commissioner of the British Protectorate of
New Guinea— and the large MacGregor collection.

de Vis' tenacity and his efforts on behalf of the institution were
sustained over a long tenure with Tew rewards except those of seeing the
institution's collections grow, and knowledge and understanding of the
objects in those collections increase — mainly through his own efforts. He
was confronted with a large, unknown and unique fauna. He had no
literature and few colleagues with whom he could discuss his work, yet he
was the museum's first really productive staff member and possibly the
most productive up to the present time. He had an analytical and creative

mind. He was scientist, administrator and, if (he need arose, a clerk. He
was a humane and compassionate man and he kept the museum operating
in the face of incredible odds. Mack has suggested that de Vis 'would have
been happier in a secluded room describing fossil and recent vertebrate
animals, rather than building up the collections of a new museum' 15 . There
is no evidence of such an inclination either in the collections themselves
nor in the energy that de Vis applied to every aspect of the museum's
operation. However, Mack was right when he said 'there is no doubting his
devotion to the work he had undertaken' 15 , de Vis set a standard of
personal commitment and achievement for the museum that has been
followed, though never surpassed. He was the Queensland Museum's
great director.

CJ. Wild, acting director <>f the museum
1905-1910.

de Vis was retired in 1905 at the age of 76. On 31 December 1904
Norton, then chairman of the board, had reported on 'the exertions which
he had for some years made to avert the retirement of the director'. It was
not that de Vis wanted to retire — he didn't — but the trustees, who had
confidence in him, feared, in the depressed economic climate of the time,
that if they lost de Vis he would not be replaced. They had had a warning
that this could happen when, on 28 May 1904, the chairman had reported a
suggestion of the minister's that 'the Director might be "retired" and the
museum put in charge of a person at a lower salary'. Norton, in reply, had
told the minister—

from previous experience that no such person could be found who
would be competent to manage the Institution with efficiency and
with the authority given by scientific standing

and that he, Norton, 'had spoken of the Director in very favourable
terms'. Eventually, their fears were justified— de Vis was retired and was
not replaced. On 26 November 1904 the Chief Secretary's Office ordered
de Vis' retirement, which became effective in March 1905. He continued to
attend at the museum and, to oblige the board, continued in charge of the
museum — a course that did not please the department. Accordingly, on
24 June 1905, the trustees ascertained that Mr R. Hall from Melbourne —
previously recommended to succeed Ogilby in 1901— would accept the
position of director at an annual salary of £200. This would have left £100
for de Vis' salary as consulting scientist. The government did not accept
that recommendation and on 26 August 1905 the board had to accept the
government's appointment of Wild as acting director, de Vis stayed on as
consulting scientist. A doorkeeper, B. McClelland, was appointed in
September, presumably to strengthen the attendant staff, depleted by
Spiller's retrenchment and Wild's promotion. The only other staff
members were Broadbent and Lamb— the latter having become 'assistant
in the industrial department' instead of 'mineralogist'.

This year and the next, 1905-6, were probably the nadir in the
museum's fortunes. In July 1906 Benjamin Harrison replaced McClelland.
In 1907 there was a breakthrough— W.E. Weatherill, described as boy
assistant, was appointed in January; H.B. Taylor, office boy in April; and
Anthony Alder was appointed taxidermist in September, Weatherill
becoming his assistant.

Anthony Alder was an expert at casting. He had learnt his trade from
his uncle, who had a taxidermy business, Alder and Co., Islington,
London 35 , and had won a gold medal for his models at the Greater Britain
Exhibition, London in 1899. Alder had had a taxidermy and model-making
business in Queen Street from 1877— the same year that he had first
offered his services to the museum, only to be told that there was no
position available. Instead, he had sold 22 mammals to the museum for
£50. Only three years later Spalding had been appointed to the position of
taxidermist. Spalding had worked for Ramsay, curator of the Australian
Museum, who very likely had recommended him to Haswell. Alder,
naturally, was critical of Spalding's work. On 1 July 1892 the museum
board noted a —

letter in the Observer over the signature of one Alder complaining of
the quality of the taxidermist's work. It was considered a sufficient
refutation of the charges made that Mr Spalding had been chosen by

the New South Wales Commission for the Chicago Exhibition and

that no notice of Alder's letter should be taken.

On 28 October 1905 the board received a letter from the Department

of Agriculture suggesting that Aider be employed. 'The trustees were
opposed to employing him in the museum building, but will give him birds
to stuff in his own workshop if he quotes satisfactory prices'. Perhaps
Alder had a friend in the department, for, despite his long standing
differences with the board, at last he was appointed to the staff of the
museum at the age of 58. At the time of this appointment the board was
under pressure. In April 1907 there had been strong press criticism of the
museum displays and its standards of taxidermy, and then, one week
before Alder was appointed, the premier had taken over the control of the
museum and the board was about to be disbanded (see Chapter 14). In
fact, Alder's appointment was probably that board's last contribution to the
museum's operation.

From 1907 to 1910 the museum continued under Wild's directorship,
now under the watchful eye of Premier W Kidston. Apparently what he
saw did not please him, because in March 1910 his under secretary, PJ.
MacDermott, wrote seeking a reference for a Dr R. Hamlyn-Harris, then a
school teacher in Toowoomba- 16 . He received an entirely favourable
reference from J.V. McCarthy of the Toowoo?nba Chronicle. No immediate
appointment was made, however. Kidston, apparently feeling he needed
some advice first, on 2 June 1910 wrote to the premier of New Soutli Wales
asking if Robert Etheridge jnr, the curator of the Australian Museum,
would be available to investigate the Queensland Museum and report to
him. In his report r ' Etheridge admired some of the material, especially
some of the fossils and the 'fine MacGregor collection', but was critical of
the building, the lack of labels, crowding of specimens, inadequate display
furniture, arrangement of the material, preparation of the specimens,
registration, storage, the level of staffing and the staff themselves:

During my investigation I found one officer performing no less than
eight different classes of work, some professional, some mechanical,
some pure labour. I venture to say that under circumstances of this
nature it is impossible for an officer so situated, no matter hmv
earnest he may be. to carry such multifarious duties to a successful
conclusion w

Mack remarks that the report was fair and informative 15 . Indeed,
Etheridge's descriptions of the collection reflect the remarkable increase
in its size and confirm that the dimensions of the task had been quite
beyond the capacity of de Vis, his successor Wild and their pathetically
small staff.

Etheridge was not impressed with Wild, nor with Broadbent whom he
thought to be 'upwards of 77 years of age' — actually he was 73. The other
attendant, B. Harrison, a cotton spinner by trade, was then 70. The 18 year-
old H.V. Chambers, clerk/librarian, who had replaced Taylor, was described
as having only a very elementary knowledge of library work. Etheridge
thought the 19 year-old Weatherill to be a bright young man. The only other
person to impress Etheridge was J. Lamb, a painter by trade, who, although
assistant in the industrial department, had the following duties:

He prepares and articulates skeletons; prepares collections for
schools, prints labels, reproduces specimens by casting, curates the
collections of minerals, rocks and fossils, assists in skinning large
animals and takes his share of the cleansing duties. He is making a
special study of Spiders and Frog> '

Lamb's office in the basement was the only one that Etheridge found
reasonably tidy. Despite Etheridge's admiration, Lamb left the museum in
1910, The taxidermist, 61 year-old Anthony Alder, although on the staff at
the time is not mentioned in Etheridge's report at all.

Ronald Hamlyn-Harris. director of the
museum 1910-1917.

A Partial Recovery 1911-45

Ronald Hamlyn-Harris was appointed curator on 1 October 1910. He
appears to have had the governments support to put Etheridge's
recommendations in train. However, his salary was not exactly princely.
Although it was to rise to an equivalent of nearly £500 by 1913, on
appointment it was £300. His accommodation— in the cottage by the
railway line —was valued at an extra £50 per annum. There was no longer
a board of trustees and the director was responsible directly to the
premier, Hamlyn-Harris visited other Australian museums before he
began his task of reform in Queensland and Ethendge continued to advise.
The expansion, begun in 1882 and so sadly interrupted by the depression
of 1893, now resumed. The new director began to reorganise every aspect
of the museum's operation.

Heber A. Longman, a natural historian known to Hamlyn-Harris,
joined the staff as assistant curator and Henry Hacker was appointed
entomologist. Later, in 1913, J.D. Ogilby was appointed again, this time a^
part-time ichthyologist, and he did some good work. He also inspired the
new cadet, Tom Marshall, to a life-long interest in ichthyology. Veterinary
surgeon D.R. Buckley was part-time osteologist for a short time but it was
not a successful appointment — Hamlyn-Harris opposed his reappointment,
even as an honorary, believing him to have been using the institution for
'self-advertisement'*!*

The first full-time stenographer Eileen G, Murphy was also appointed
in 19 11, as was a librarian, Clarice Sinnamon. Alder was still employed and
helping him were M. Colclough— replacing Weatherili— and the cadet T.C,
Marshall. B. Harrison was elevated to chief attendant on £90 per annum*
Broadbent, who had died m office, was replaced and two additional
attendants were appointed. One of them, W.E. Greensill, doubled as a
carpenter— Berry having left. In the general revitalizing that Hamlyn-
Harris initiated Finney Isles and Co. tendered information on new
uniforms for the museum's attendants* 11 .

C.J. Wild, no longer acting director, accepted his old position of
collector 41 . However, he did not impress Hamlyn-Harris, and on 12 June

The staff of the museum. 1912. Standing

Lk> /?: 'Chip-; Greensill, attendant/
carpenter; William Baillie, attendant;
Henry Hacker, entomologist; Eileen
Murphy, stenographer; Clarice
Sinnamon. librarian; Anthony Alder,
taxidermist; Benjamin Harrison, chief
attendant; E. Varey. attendant. Seated L
to K: Heber A. Longman, assistant
scientist; Ronald Hamlyn-Harris,
director; James Douglas Ogilby,
ichthyologist. Reclining: Tom Marshall,
cadet

1911, four days after a fire had destroyed his camp, he wrote offering to
accept a transfer (see Chapter 9). His connection with the museum ended
on 31 June 1911 42 . Hamlyn-Harris used the position of collector left vacant
to appoint Douglas Rannie as ethnological collector. Rannie, who later
became librarian, lived in the caretakers cottage from 1912 after Hamlyn-
Harris vacated it R.J. Cuthbert Butler, who was librarian from 1915 to
1917, took over the house from Rannie when he left.

Thus Hamlyn-Harris had achieved a staff of 15— a new record. He
also extended the scientific strength of the museum by appointing
honorary scientists— Professors H.C. Richards and T. Harvey Johnston
and Dr A.B. Walkom of the University of Queensland, and Dr J. Shirley.

Many of those appointed by Hamlyn-Harris went on to render long
service to the museum. They were Eileen Murphy, Tom Marshall, Henry
Hacker, Heber Longman— who subsequently became director— and the
attendants J. Baillie and E. Varey. Eileen Murphy was only 20 when she
was appointed and she was not only the first woman to be appointed to the
permanent staff but was also the first stenographer. She was to occupy
that position for 42 years, serving three directors — Hamlyn-Harris,
Longman and Mack. Her duties were not confined to secretarial ones —
she registered specimens, wrote labels and compiled catalogues. Her
distinctive and decorative, though not readily legible, hand is still to be
found on many museum labels.

During his tenure Hamlyn-Harris instituted educational programmes,
revitalised the displays, organised the library and sought ways to redress
the lack of scientific staff. However, in the end, his efforts to develop the
museum were defeated by World War I. When he retired in 1917 he had
lost the position of collector, Alder had died in 1915, Marshall was away
with the 13th Australian General Hospital Unit and ichthyologist Ogilby,
although he was continuing to do good work, was getting toward the end of
his useful days. Staff members who left were never replaced nor had any
new positions been created. In addition to the director and the assistant
curator, there were the entomologist Hacker, librarian Cuthbert Butler,
stenographer Eileen Murphy, preparator Colclough, three attendants and
the head attendant and doorkeeper, Harrison. Although Harrison was
'fully capable of the work that was required' — Longman attesting to his
vitality on the basis of his recent marriage — he was now almost 78 years
old 43 .

Eileen Murphy who gave 42 years of
service to the museum. Above: as a young
woman; left: after her retirement, with
T.C. Marshall and M.P. Beirne, head
attendant.

Heber Albert Longman, director of the
museum 1918-45.

Longman became director in 1918 but he was not replaced as assistant
curator. Hacker continued as entomologist until 1929 when he was
seconded to the Department of Agriculture, and worked at the museum
only one or two days a week 44 . He was succeeded by H.L. Jarvis, seconded
from the Department of Agriculture for one day a fortnight. From 1918 A.
Fenwick not only took over from Cuthbert-Butler in the library but also
moved into the caretakers cottage near the railway line. J. Shirley became
conchologist for one year in 1920-1 and Ogilby worked on as part-time
ichthyologist until 1920. The affection generally afforded Ogilby is
reflected in a letter from Longman to the under secretary, Chief
Secretary's Office, enclosing a medical certificate, seeking approval to pay
for medicine and suggesting 'for our veteran ichthyologist Mr J.D. Ogilby
three weeks holiday at the seaside, without expense, in charge of a
friend' 45 . There was, for a short time before World War II, the promising
assistant in ethnology, G. Jackson — who subsequently was killed in action
in the war. Filmer observed, in 1946, how Longman grieved for him, and
that signs of Jackson's—

good work are in evidence all over the court. Any death in a New
Guinea jungle is a sorrowful thing; his, as Mr Longman says, a real
tragedy 46 .

Colclough and Longman did not get on well — and this may have been
partly political. Mrs Longman was a member of the party in opposition
while Colclough supported the Labour government. Between October 1917
and June 1919 Colclough was seconded to the University's zoology
department to work on ticks. In 1931 Longman, basing his action on the
need to reduce running costs, abolished his position 47 . Colclough was
retrenched but subsequently was reinstated in November 1933. Longman
wrote that although Colclough was given the—

maximum of consideration his lack of interest in his work, his

cantankerous attitude generally, and his want of energy prevented
him from being the useful officer that a taxidermist should be 48 .

Indeed he was not a useful officer. He had withdrawn to a seat
between the bird cabinets in the basement. In April 1945, soon after he
was appointed as an assistant, Ivor Filmer recorded an occasion on which
Colclough was to make a skin—

but swore volubly at having to get off his seat between the bird

cabinets to do it 4 ".

Colclough was absolutely unrelenting in his attitude — he just would
not work for Longman. He said 'the only good thing Longman did was that
he never begat any other Longmans' 46 . In Filmer's understatement 'the
two were incompatible' tt .

Despite Colclough, the museum was a happy place in Longman's time.
He was good to his staff and fostered in them an involvement and loyalty
to the institution and an interest in natural history. Under Longman's
direction, Marshall had developed his skills, and the improvement of the
displays, begun in the days of Hamlyn-Harris, had continued. The museum
was also a mecca for local and visiting naturalists. Entomologists A.J.
Turner, H.G, Barnard, E.H. Rainford and G.H.H. Hardy worked there in an
honorary capacity, as did palaeontologist J.E. Young and conchologist H.W.
Hermann. In 1942 Marshall was seconded to the Department of Harbours
and Marine and subsequently became ichthyologist in that department.
Ivor Filmer replaced him in December 1944. His duties were many —
Filmer, as a young assistant in the museum at this time, did almost even
job there was to be done. He cleaned and fumigated display cases and
spirit tanks, ran messages, arranged displays, labelled specimens, filled up
jars, made catalogues, registered acquisitions and identified specimens—
sometimes with Longman's help, but often he had to do it on his own.
When Longman was away he answered most of the public enquiries. When
Miss Murphy was away, he was clerk as well.

One of the attendants in Longman's time was R.V. Smith who. like
Longman, was a free thinker and a Rationalist, and who was a highly
respected member of the Brisbane community. Born in Belfast, he was a

Museum staff, circa 1916. L to R:
Cuihbt-n Builer. librarian; Heber A.
rri curator; Eileen
Murphy, stenographer; James Douglas
Ogilby, ichthyologist; Henry Hacker,
entomologist; Tom C. Marshall, assistant

ariet". William Bailiie.
attendant; Benjamin Harrison, chief
attendant; gardeners— Jordan, Archbold
and SpaJdinjz.

museum attendant until his death in 1932 at the age of 43. Both Longman
and Tom Marshall were pall-bearers at his funeral and long obituaries in
the Brisbane press are glowing in their praise of the man and the work he
had done tur the Labour party, the State Service Union and the Worker's
Education Library 49 .

Michael Beirne, another attendant appointed by Longman had a long
distinguished record in office in the museum from 1925 to 1959— his
tenure almost spanning that of two directors, Longman and Mack. Beirne's
fecit in chasing two youths who had stolen gold nuggets from the display is
remembered to this day by the attendant staff. It was a long chase,
through Victoria Park to Leiehhardt Street, where the 'badly winded*
miscreants were caught 31 '.

Longman achieved international recognition for his scientific work on
vertebrate palaeontology. He made another significant contribution to
science. In these years of economic stringency many Australian scientists
were parochial and jealous of the competitive advantages available to
better funded overseas institutions and scientists who came on
expeditions to Australia, and Visitors' collecting activities often were
resented (see Chapter 8) However, Longman believed that science was
international, that overseas naturalists should be encouraged to work in
Australia, and he provided very real assistance to those who did (see
Chapters 7, 8). It is a testimony to his objectivity and scientific integrity
that he continued to do this even after the visit of the 1931 Harvard
Museum of Comparative Zoology palaeontological expedition. A lesser
man would certainly have been jealous of the treasures that the American
were removing. They were treasures representative of a fauna that he was
investigating and they came from locations that he already had sampled.
Longman, far from being jealous shared his knowledge with these
colleagues from abroad and guided them to the fossil sites with his never-
failing gentle courtesy (see Chapter 7). During his tenure as director, the
Queensland Museum was a base for the 1923-5 British Museum
Expedition to tropical Australia as well as the Harvard expedition ( -
Chapters 13, 7 respectively). Longman also supported Archbold's collecting
activities on behalf of the American Museum of Natural History and he
provided facilities and support for Gabriele Neuhauser w T ho in 1837-8 was
collecting in north Queensland for the Museum fur Naturkunde in Berlin
(see Chapter 8).

In the local community Longman established the museum's authority
in natural science and, largely through his newspaper articles, he did
much to encourage and foster scientists and naturalists in Queensland and
to promote an interest in the state's fauna and flora. In fact, during his
years as director, the museum had better public relations than it has ever
had before or since — a fact to which the museum's cuttings books attest.

It is doubtful that all this made up for the inefficiency and even
neglect in the actual curation of specimens. Filmer records that he was
cleaning out tanks in the spirit room and —

made an interesting experiment by filtering our formalin, afi it was
very cloudy. The residue was a white powder .... (which) turned blue
litmus red, but this did not seem to prove anything uther than it was
an acid* 5 .

Mrs Gnchting— the librarian— and Longman, in a tea-room
conversation, disagreed about what the white powder could have been. No
one seems to have been very concerned that the preservative they were
using was acid— perhaps no one knew how damaging it was. A Public

Service Commissioner's enquiry in 1929 recommended that a scientist be
appointed to assist the director when 'the opportunity arose** 1 . It never
arose — it was the beginning of the 1930s depression, and, in any case,
Longman himself was not very persuasive (see Appendix 1). For most of
his tenure he ran the museum with only four attendants, two preparatory
a librarian, a stenographer and a part-time entomologist. In the late 1930s
there was a successful education extension programme with funds from a
Carnegie grant but it did not continue after the two year period of the
grant (see Chapter 5). Filmer suggests that the fact that there had been no
funds to improve the museum during Longman's years—

was not so much a reflection on his (Longman's) own efforts, but
rather an index of the cultural desert that appears to be
characteristic of so much of Australia until comparatively r<
time

Whatever the reason, it was almost at an end and a new era was about
to begin, Longman, after 27 years in office, was looking for a successor,
and, on 14 August 1945, World War II ended. Filmer recorded the receipt
of that news:

A unique day in uur history, and in my life. Peace was officially
announced at 9.30 this morning, and al the museum we received the
news with joy. The attendants rang the bell, shouting "Hooray!"
through the galleries, and Mr Longman and I found an old Balinese
gong which we banged and made a loud ringing noise outside the
back door, but there was no one there to hear us 46 .

The Beginning of a new Era 1946-64

George Mack became director in February 1946. He came to an
institution that was respected in a few specialised areas of science — in
vertebrate palaeontology and in some aspects of entomology— and an
insl itutfon that was regarded, with affection, by the Queensland
community as an authority m matters of natural history. However, apart
from the entertainment afforded by its displays, the museum's educational
role was not generally recognised at all nor was the real significance of its
collections, which were neglected — many items irretrievably so. During his
tenure Mack improved storage and care of the collections and promoted
the educational role of the museum — he instituted school programmes
and concerned himself with the educational content and quality of the
displays. Primarily to help him achieve these improvements, he gradually
increased the staff levels. D.P. Vernon and M.E. McAnna, assisted by K.
Keith, succeeded Coldough and Marshall in the preparatorial section.
From 1947 one, and later two artists were appointed, and from about 1955
there were two assistants in the library instead of one. A photographer
R.V. Oldham, was also appointed in 1955. Assistants were appointed in
zoology, entomology, molluscs and ornithology. In 1948 the number of
attendants was increased from four to six, and in 1960 to eight. Also in
1948 a clerical assistant for Eileen Murphy, E.J. Bingham, was appointed.
However, the scientific strength of the institution was barely an
improvement on what it had been in Longman's time. J.T. Woods was
appointed as assistant curator in geology in 1948 and much later, in 1963, a
second professional position was created when E. Dahms became curator
of entomology Mack also appointed an assistant in anthropology, M.
Caliey, but it was not a successful appointment and he didn't try again (see
Chapter 10).

For the whole of 1946 and most of 1947 there was cleaning, tidying,
fumigating, shifting, and everyone was involved, even Colclough, who at

first seems to have cooperated better with Mack than he had with
Longman 46 . In the end, there was disagreement about the arrangement of
cases in the galleries and Colclough left just before Vernon arrived on 20
September 1946. Two weeks later he was back, helping with the clean up
as an honorary worker 46 . However, the next March he fell out with Mack
and Vernon about the mounting of birds in the new displays and he
appears to have left for ever. Meanwhile, the tidying up went on.Mack and
Vernon came into the museum firmly determined to clean it up— and
indeed they did. For those staff members who had continued through from
Longman's days the new team from Melbourne at first were not
appreciated. They were always moving things. When Filmer asked Mr
Beirne what he thought of all the removing of exhibits that was going on,
Beirne replied 'all changes aren't improvements'; and —

George Mack, director of the museum
1946-64, with Bob Dyer, Australian radio
personality and amateur sports
fisherman.

Mr Beirne said thai Mr Mack was excited about what he saw in
Adelaide (where he had attended the 1946 meeting of ANZAAS)— so
much activity, even the attendants £oing round with paintbrushes.
Mr Beirne did not think that was such a good idea 4 *'.

Nevertheless, Beirne and the other attendants were all part of the
team who helped with the reorganisation of the museum at this time.
Conservative about the changes at first, they eventually got used to the
new regime; and for some there were definite improvements— Filmer
particularly enjoyed the field trips;

10 March 1947: it was a feeling of great pleasure to be off on a

■ trip iti official time —

25 July L947: these outings for perches are a real I

Many times over the next year Filmer with Vernon or McAnna made
expeditions usually to collect perches for bird displays. They would catch
the train from Brunswick Street to Mitchelton and then walk to Samford
Road or to Ferny Grove, sawing off the logs they needed and carrying
them back to the station in sacks. Increasingly Filmer found himself
helping Vernon and McAnna with taxidermy:

24 March 1947: an important day in my career— tackled my first

skin 4 '.

George Mack was an exacting task master, He inspired loyalty in
those who stayed long enough to understand him — but many did not stay
that long. Miss Murphy was reduced to tears on more than one occasion
and Betty Baird, the librarian, left the museum in May 1947 — only six-
months after she had started — because of Mack 1 "'. His irascibility often
made him a difficult man to deal with and may explain some of the
departmental neglect that the museum experienced at his time. A
characteristic incident occurred when he was conducting a breeding
experiment with a colony of marsupial rats, Dasyuroides byrnei. Rhodes,
the zoology assistant at the time — whose job it was to care for the rats —
had left, and Mack ordered the attendants to see to them. Len Taylor
volunteered to do the job, but Mack insisted that he had issued an order
and had not asked for a volunteer, and promptly served them all with
dismissal notices. What really had been troubling Mack was that he
needed a roster that would ensure the colony was cared for over the
weekend, However tempers had become frayed before that could be
explained and the situation was resolved only after the Union was called
in. A roster was organised, the rats were fed, Mack said nothing more
about it and no one actually left the service of the museum.

Filmer suggests that 'in his "high noon" of reorganisation denigration
and re-furbishing Mack was misunderstood by many people'*. Indeed he
was— although most people thought he was merely pig-headed and
irascible, he was trying to stop the decay that 50 years of neglect had
brought about. Nevertheless it was not only unfortunate that 'good
relations with Longman could not be entertained', but also that his

relations with so many people were affected because 'bluntly he was not

mature enough lo assuage his forthright personality and bad temper' 4 *.

In May 1956, Mack wrote to the Director-General of Education, asking
permission to apply for a Carnegie travel grant. He wanted to visit
America and Europe—

1 to observe and study display, educational and other museum
developments...

Museum staff 1965: Eileen Murphy (1),
S. Gunn (2), J.T. Woods (3), C. Bowman
(4), M.P. Beirne(5), J. Thomson (6), D.P.
Vernon (7), E.C. Dahms (8), DA Wilson
(9), M. Stegeman (10), T. Tebble (11), L.
Haren (12), D.D. Chorley (13), B.M.
Campbell (14), C. Corrie (15), P. Wipple
(16), A. Easton (17), A. Bartholomai (18),
E. Crosby (19), L. Elder (20), Mary
McKenzie (21).

2 to prepare a suitable plan for a possible new Queensland Museum
building based on my own experience and on observations and
discussions abroad.

3 to learn at first hand the uses made of radio and especially of
television by museums in the field of education 52 .

Cabinet was 'in no way unsympathetic to the request but 'considered
that, in view of retrenchments at the present time, it would be advisable to
defer the matter'. He never asked again. He died in office in October 1963
at the age of 64. It was just three months after he had written to the Public
Service Board indicating that 'he would appreciate an extension of his
term of office' after reaching the age of 65 53 .

Mack presided over a staff increase from 9 or 10 to 26. However, the
increase was due largely to the appointment of assistants and support
staff. It is clear from correspondence that he tried very hard to persuade
he government that he needed professional and technical staff, but he did
not succeed in this.

One of the most astute things that Mack did, was to bring Vernon with
him from the National Museum of Victoria. Don Vernon was to stay on the
staff of the Queensland Museum for 36 years to become the second
longest serving member— Eileen Murphy served longer, retiring after 42
years service. He was to be involved in the design and production of most
of the displays developed between 1945 and 1970 and many of those
developed in the 1970s and he brought modern techniques of sculpture
taxidermy to Queensland. However, he was also an assiduous worker in
the field. In the course of his tenure he was to undertake a diversity of
projects for the museum including the production of the popular Birds of
Brisbane in the Queensland Museum Booklet series, the initiation and
organisation of a small museums seminar in 1978 (see Chapter 14) and he
consistently promoted the role of museums and a respect for their
collections. In his retirement he continues his assocation with the
museum.

A New Deal 1964-86

Jack Woods, succeeding George Mack in 1963, was the first
Australian-born and educated director of the museum. This was probably
an indication of the political and economic maturity of Australia, whose
institutions, from the end of World War II, were increasingly staffed by
graduates from its own universities rather than from those of Great
Britain. Up to this time doctoral degrees were not awarded in Australian
universities and it had been customary for Australian graduates to go
overseas for their professional training. Some returned, but mainly it was
overseas graduates who had staffed Australia's maturing institutions.
However, Woods rejected an opportunity to go to the University of
California in 1953. Subsequently, as director, he was the first member of
the museum staff to be sent overseas by the government to visit the
museums of Europe and North America. Study tours and overseas study
have long been a privilege of university staff members and the experience
is generally regarded as an important factor in overcoming the isolation
that is often experienced in Australia. The benefit had not previously been
available to museum staff. The occasion signalled the public support and
government recognition that at last were being afforded to the museum.

Woods appointment marked the beginning of the modern period in
the museums development. He was responsible for the appointment of
curators of anthropology, zoology, ichthyology and reptiles, bringing the
number of curators to five; and he appointed H.A. Sweetser to the history
and technology section (see Chapter 11).

When Bartholomai became director in 1969 he inherited the strong
infrastructure that Mack and Woods had put in place and proceeded to
build on it. Perhaps he was fortunate that he came into office while the
general affluence and expansion of the 1960s was still occurring— he
certainly took advantage of it. All the Australian museums were expanding
at this time 13 , as were universities, and not only were graduates available
to fill positions but also positions were being created in the museums. In
Queensland, community support through the activities of the Hall of
Science, Industry and Health Development Committee resulted in the
enactment of the Queensland Museum legislation and the setting up of the
board of trustees (see Chapters 11, 14). Thus Bartholomai had a lot of
support for the expansion that he engineered. New curatorships were
created in arachnology, molluscs, history and technology, higher
invertebrates, lower invertebrates and subsequently in industrial
archaeology, maritime archaeology, and lower entomology as well as a
scientist in charge of materials conservation. Meanwhile, as assistants who
had initially been appointed as cadets qualified for promotion, new
curatorships were created in Australian ethnography, crustaceans, and
amphibians and ornithology. These new positions, together with more
assistants and very much enlarged prepartorial, art, education and
administration sections comprised a staff of 101— the strength of the
museum at the close of 1985.

Now, in 1986, not only is the staff about six times its size when Woods
took over in 1964, but also it is highly qualified and experienced. Travel, to
visit and consult with colleagues is a normal event, not only for directors,
but also for others on the staff. Now the museum is able to keep pace with
changing philosophies and advances in science and technology, and it
takes its place amongst museums the world over.

There are also members of the community who are contributing to
the museum's operation. They are donors, volunteer workers and field

. s

Jack Tunstall Woods, director of the
museum 1964-68.

Alan Bartholomai, director of the
museum from 1969.

(S3

assistants, and consultants. The Hall of Science Industry and Health
Development Committee, having initiated the museum's metamorphosis,
sought a continuing role. It became the Museum Society of Queensland in
1971, and from 1985, with an increasing emphasis on its association with
the Queensland Museum, it changed to the Queensland Museum
Association Incorporated. F. Stanley Colliver, honorary museum associate
and donor, is the association's foundation chairman. He heads a group of
its members who volunteer their services to the museum on a regular
weekly basis to help wherever there is a backlog of work to be addressed.
It is one of the ways in which the public can interact with the staff in its
care of the collections that, in fact, belong to every member of the
community.

Museum staff 1984.

Museum staff, 1970. L to R: J. Utz. A.
Bartholomai, H. King, B. Campbell, S.
Hoarc. R. Whitbv, J. Covaccvich, R.
Monroe, P. Jell, ). Hodge, E.G. Dahms. J.
Wilson, A. Sweetser, W. Balaam, M.
McAnna. Mary McKenzie, E. Gehrmann,
J. Wertz, T. Miller. M. QuinneU, R.
Hardley, E.P. Wixted. D.P. Vernon, A.
Easton (cartoon by S. Hiley— seated).

SHOW
AND TEL

Displays

Previous page: A school class examines a
display of jellyfish (by courtesy the
Courier Mail).

People visit museums to see objects— some familiar, others that
few will have seen before. In some museums nowadays it is also
possible to touch some of these objects. Always the experience
is direct and personal. People love to see fur and fabric, wood
and stone, gems and steel. Good museum displays are to be
enjoyed; and they are a short-cut to knowledge — gained through the
discovery of the significance of objects.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, museums everywhere
displayed row upon row of specimens— possibly to advertise the size of
the collection. Certainly, this style of display showed diversity, but it
showed little else. However, museums have since had to compete with
other entertainments to keep their audiences and gradually, around the
world, the style of museum displays has changed. Fortunately, their
educational role now recognised, museums are better funded than once
they were. Thus, they are able to take advantage of new approaches to
design, and new materials and technologies to improve the quality of their
displays.

There is no doubt that for much of its history the Queensland
Museum's displays were cramped, staff and expertise were lacking, and
there were critical shortages of funds. However, from 1910 when Hamlyn-
Harris became director, the institution has been served by a succession of
able taxidermists and preparators whose standards have been high and
who steadily improved the quality of the displays throughout the galleries.

A Collection of Objects

There is no information surviving today on the displays in the old
Windmill on Wickham Terrace. It was a collection and assemblage area
that was organised by Charles Coxen, with the assistance of other
members of the Queensland Philosophical Society, and possibly his wife,
Elizabeth. Probably at that early stage everything in the collection was
displayed. We know that there were shells and birds that Coxen,
ornithologist H.C. Rawnsley and taxidermist and collector E. Waller had
contributed; and there was a microscope donated by C. Tiffin 1 . In 1863 two
cabinets of insects were purchased that were supplemented with some
from Silvester Diggles (see Chapter 9). A case of fossils had been donated
by J.K. Wilson— that same Wilson whose paper on the geology of western
Queensland had been communicated to a meeting of the society by Coxen
(see Chapter 7). In 1868 the collections were moved down to Queen
Street— to the Parliamentary building. In its annual report for 1899 the
museum board of trustees was to comment that there were mainly 'crabs
and other marine invertebrates' 2 that were transferred from the Windmill
to the Parliamentary building but there is no other evidence that this was
so. After the move a collection of about 70 birds from Cape York was
purchased from Messrs Cockerell and Thorpe, and Coxen was to mount
them. Another collection of 122 birds was given by Cockerell in 1870 and
the society spent £10 on glass doors for the ornithological shelves. Richard
Daintree, government geologist for north Queensland, gave four sets of
stereoscopic photographs of the Gilbert River 1 .

There were also the government's mineralogical collections that
Daintree had entrusted to the society until a government museum was
founded. However, these mineralogical collections 'being in boxes and not

set out on open shelves cannot be said to be really open to the public' 3 .

More space was made available in the Parliamentary building in 1871 and
C. D'Oyly H. Aplin, the former government geologist for south
Queensland, arranged and catalogued Daintree's specimens with his own

collection for the geological museum that the government was setting up :u .
On 24 June 1871 the secretary for Public Works inserted a notice in the
Government Gazette:

The Government having arranged for the exhibition of Mineral
Specimens etc. etc., contributions from persons interested in the
formation of the Museum proposed to be initiated will be thankfully
received by this Department. Cost of transit of specimens by steamer
will be paid 5 .

However, the government's geological museum lasted barely two
months. Aplin finished arranging the minerals in the first week of
September 3 ; and soon after, the government at last assumed responsibility
for the Philosophical Society's collections as well as its own mineral
specimens by appointing Coxen the honorary curator of a public museum '
(see Chapter 3). From the notice that appears in the Government Gazette on
7 October 1871, signed by Coxen as acting curator, it is clear that he was
the honorary curator of a comprehensive museum and not one confined to
mineralogy 5 .

In the notice in the Government Gazette in 1873, announcing Karl
Staiger's appointment as government analyst and museum custodian, the
government solicited —

contributions of animals, birds, minerals, shells etc. to enlarge the

present collection at the temporary museum (and) when

forwarded from distant places cost of transit will be defrayed by

the government 6 .

There could not have been much room in the two small rooms in the
Parliamentary building. Staiger reported that one room contained the
minerals that D'Oyly Aplin had arranged and the zoology collection was in
the other. Most of the Philosophical Society's collection must have been
packed up— pending the availability of a new building— because Staiger
describes the zoological collection as comprising:

a skull of a dugong, an imperfect skeleton of a black whale, some
snakes, fishes, an octopus and a small collection of insects and shells,
none of which I found named 7

He set up a display of minerals to satisfy enquiries in the new
accommodation he had obtained in the Post Office building. Meanwhile
Daintree had been writing long letters from London— where he was now
Queensland's agent general— advising Staiger how to set up a display of
soils from different parts of Queensland:

as I take a never ceasing personal interest in this matter I will

take the opportunity of sketching the outline of a mode of

arrangement of the Museum Divide your building into sections,

each section to represent a geological epoch 8 .

Staiger believed he could do what Daintree suggested if he had the
long room in the Post Office building for mineralogical display, leaving the
two rooms in the Parliamentary bulding for the zoology 9 . However, by 9
May 1874, when The Queenslander published a glowing account of the
displays, they were all in a large, 'nicely painted' room in the Post Office
building-
well lighted, and (with) show cases arranged down the centre and
along the aisles. In the cases are classified specimens of tin, copper,

iron, gold, coal, marble as obtained in the colony and in many

cases from other countries— an admirable arrangement when

comparison is the object a visitor has in view. Other cases contain
insects; there are bottles with fishes.....; reptiles and other things
much more agreeable in the preserved than in the living state

Anthony Alder, taxidermist at the
museum from 1907 to 1915, with his wife.

h - d

4 *te C^l£>SKs^' -v^

A tradition of taxidermy came to the ntw **Bfc*y56 J*>\L^^-* ^

Queensland, from Great Britain. *j ( / ' ''

Airier had trained in his uncle's firm in
London.

The walls are decorated with views of colonial life and animals that
were, by repute, extinct before Australia was discovered. Mr Staiger,
who is arranging the collection, is afraid, and with good reason, that
the. space at his disposal will be occupied before the novelties and
valuables sent in have all got a place.

The trustees acquired more space in the Post Office building in 1876
and 1877, but it was still very crowded, and the standard of display could
not have been high. Nevertheless, Staiger entered displays on behalf of the
museum in the Agricultural Society of New South Wales show of 1877 and
was awarded bronze medals for Queensland photographs (Daintree's) and
for Queensland minerals 1 ". In the same year taxidermist Anthony Alder
offered his services to collect and mount zoological specimens. Although
they purchased material from him occasionally, the trustees were not able
to engage him at that stage 11 .

By this time the museum holdings included 'Curios, Machinery,
Weapons and Furniture' 1 ''— it was a museum of general sciences and
history as well as anthropology, mineralogy and natural history. Live
specimens were also on display. A series of articles in the Courier in 1926
elicited reminiscences of the museum in Queen Street from readers ' ■'
Miss Pauline Seal recalled childrens' hour, 4.00 to 5.00 pm daily, when Mr
Dignan ted mice to his carpet snakes. The museum was obviously
interested in attracting children, and it created a lasting impression on
them, though possibly not the one intended. Apparently the trustees also
assumed some responsibility for the living lungfish, probably in the
Botanical Gardens. In the board minutes of 20 August 1876 their concern

that 'the ducks in the pond (were) damaging to the propagation of the

CeraUxlus and studying its habits' is recorded.

The displays in the new building in William Street were described in
an article in the Queenslander published on 13 March 1880 just two days
before it opened to the public:

the collections which so crowded the old building in Queen-street
are as yet very insufficient to the aim of their present habitation.
There are a few new additions to the collections, one the most
noticeable of which is the skeleton of a python, beautifully articulated
and coiled in spiral curves, the length of the reptile being about IS ft.
The upper floor has been devoted to birds, butterflies, shells, and
reptiles, and there are two cases containing beautiful specimens of

coral The cases of lepidoptera have been supplemented with

valuable additions from Singapore, some of the moths and butterflies

being most gorgeous. On this Ooor a case of echinoderms are chiefly
new. On the ground floor are the mammals, minerals, ethnological
and technological specimen:;, and the walls are hung round wit I
Daintree colored photographs. The collection of mammals is at
present very insignificant, though there are a goodly numbei of skins

awaiting the labors of the taxidermist Mr Haswell believe-, in what

we might term the pictorial Style Clf arranging zoological specimens,
which is certainly more attractive to the ordinary visitor than
endless rows of catalogued birds and beasts, A large case is to be
devoted to climbing marsupials, in which rock and tree will allow
these creatures to be shown in life-like attitudes, while from the still
pool in the corner the platypus steals up to sun himself on (he rocky
margin. We saw one of the platypi pinned out in the shape in which it
is intended he shall bask in the future, and another coiled up asleep.
The same pictorial design will also be carried out with a large
number of the birds that are yet unmounted. The cases brought by
Mr Bernays from New Zealand have been opened, and amongst
other things contained various bones of the gigantic extinct birds of
that country. It is intended that the gallery above the upper floor
shall contain a botanical collection of which Mr Bailey is at pre
engaged in making the commencement. The cases at present set out
contain a collection of fungi and of fruits. The walls are to be hung
with illustrations of various vegetable diseases. To those who visit a
museum more for instruction than amusement the minerals will
probably be the chief object of interest. These have been carefully
arranged, and are a Very valuable collection. The fishes, which were
a very attractive feature in the old exhibition, have at present to
remain stored away in obscurity, as the vessels in which they were
displayed are of a faulty construction and will not hold ihe glycerine
without leaking.-.. The hammer-headed shark purchased some time
ago, and which, though a splendid specimen, appeared to have been
irretrievably ruined by weeks of exposure to sun and rain in the
exhibition grounds at Bowen Park, has been most skilfully restored
by the museum taxidermist, and will now be a most striking object
The largest specimen of this creature possessed by the British
Museum is less than 5 ft in length, whereas this one is about VJ, tt
long-
Edward Spalding, the museums first staff taxidermist, was appointed
in 1880 14 . He was to stay at the Queensland Museum for 13 years. The
museum board's report of 1885 records that in that year alone he mounted
44 mammals, 81 birds, 9 reptiles and 11 fish as well as preparing skins and
skeletons. In 1886 and 1887 he mounted many specimens of marsupials
that had been collected by Kendall Broadbent — the museum's zoology
collector. These included specimens collected at Cape York, Herbert River,
Card well and Rockhampton (see Chapter 3).

As well as material collected by the staff, there were purchases,
exchanges and public contributions and. in 1884, only four years after the
museum had moved to its new building Sir A.H. Palmer, chairman of the
board, wrote:

Indeed the evils of overcrowding which last year were in a

measure prospective are now being realized to the defeat of Lhe
prime object of the institution as an educational agent— the
conveyance Of instruction by means of objects systematically

displayed On the same floor between the fossils and minerals and

therefore quite out of accord with its surroundings is the
anthropological collection- This fine series of objects from Australia.
New Guinea, the South Sea Islands and New Zealand obviously
suffers for want of room for proper display. The minerals have for
the present scope enough but it is at the expense of public

convenience. The cases occupied by them are too closely arranged

to allow free circulation of visitors in holiday throngs 15 .

The floor above was the zoology gallery but it was also short of space.
Palmer says of it:

.....To economise room a double line of tall cases has been of
necessity placed in the middle of the flour with the unavoidable
result of depriving observers of a favourable light for examining a
part of their contents — the Australian Birds 15 .

The upper me2zanine gallery exhibited molluscs, anatomical
specimens and botany:

One end of this gallery being filled by the Herbarium, the cases in
which utilitarian botany tan find place are but few in number and it
is much to be regretted that the department of instruction is thereby
seriously retarded 13 .

Problems abounded but, as Staiger had done, the museum displayed
exhibits at interstate and international exhibitions. The trustees of the
Queensland Museum were awarded a gold medal at the Melbourne
Centennial International Exhibition in 1888"'.

The museum moved to the National Association building in Gregory
Terrace in 1900. It opened to the public on 1 January 1901— Federation
Day. Displays apparently left a good deal to be desired. In a report of 26
January 1901, A- Norton, chairman of the board, wrote that —

failure of the contractor for new cases to finish his work in time

compelled me to have numerous cases fastened down with wire in
default of locks...- On the ground floor are shown Queensland
products exclusively, the galleries are devoted to illustrations of
various branches of science and skill. The reservation of a distinct
portion of the building for the display of home produce should in my
judgement be made a Special feature in even' provincial museum
and 1 am glad to find that it seems to have met with approval
here.,. Our fish fauna especially demands vastly more Lhan can be
afforded to it as yet and our industrial materials are not represented
as such in any way — . With regard to the gallery I regret to find my
apprehension of its insufficiency more than justified. Though most of
its cases have been crowded with exhibits to a degree which
precludes anything like proper arrangement and descriptive labelling
there remains a large surplusage of material which cannot be
utilized. In fact our ethnological collections alone would, if exhibited
as they should be, fill the entire gallery and considering our
geographical and other relations with New Guinea and the
neighbouring oceanic islands we ought not merely to have but to
exhibit a far richer series of objects of interest from these sources
than most other museums.

Norton went on to say that the display of samples of food and
adulterations had excited interest and that the natural history' exhibit
which featured foreign animals was only partly displayed 'and was cooped
up in a few cases in the gallery' 17 . The advisability of opening the displays
to the public in the evenings was considered but because of the need for
'the installation of electric light' the trustees decided not to ask the
Government to incur this expense.

There is no doubt that the Gregory Terrace building gave space for
expansion of the exhibits. But Director de Vis and his small staff clearly
had neither time nor resources to improve the displays which were still at
a comparatively low level in 1910 when Robert Etheridge of the Australian
Museum reported that 'the Queensland Museum leaves on my mind a
feeling of gloom, absence of taste and disjointed elements'. He also said
that 'the present (display) cases are cumbersome and out of date' and that
there was a need for 'a more modern form of natural decoration in some of

the mammal and bird groups' because 'much of this is incorrect and not up
to present day taxidermal science' w .

Great progress was made with the exhibition of specimens and
objects following the appointment of Hamlyn-Harris to the directorship in
1910. Alder had finally become taxidermist in 1907. In 1912 Thomas C.
Marshall began as cadet and in 1913 Michael J. Colclough was appointed as
assistant taxidermist. Alder was a considerable asset to Hamlyn-Harris as
he had trained in England and was an expert in wax and plaster casting as
well as taxidermy and painting. He had supplied museums in England and
on the Continent with specimens, had exhibited at international
exhibitions and had won two gold medals for his casting work 19 .

The Aboriginal Camp-Site diorama,
Opened in January 1914, it was on
display until the museum closed to the
public in November 1985. The display
Was created by Anthony Alder under
Hamlyn-Harris" direction.

The Investigator Tree, incised during the
beaching of Matthew Flinders' ship.
Later, Beagle 1841 was added to the
inscription. The log came to the museum
in 1889 from the Port Office.

Dioramas created by Marshall in the
1920s. Below, the Limestone i -' ■ ■
constructed in 1925 under Longman's
direction; below right: 'Hie Coral Pool,
constructed in 1928. and dismantled in
1955 to make way tor another display.

Dioramas for Queensland

During the next few years Hamlyn-Harris organised several
important displays including the Australian Aboriginal Life diorama. This
display— to visitors from 1913 to 1985. At the time of its opening The
except for d few months in 1955 when it was hidden by a temporary
display— to visitors from 1914 to 1985. At the time of its opening The
Queenslander enthusiastically reported it to be —

The largest and in many respects the most interesting of the new-
displays a comprehensive illustration of a typical aboriginal scene.

Three adult figures and a picanniny are shown. A man is squatting in
front of a gunyah, husking and preparing Mitchell grass for the
milling stone, which may be seen close by. A Dingo is sniffing at a
dead wallaby, which has been deposited near the st<

Another report at that time stated of this display:

The whole is crowned by a talented scenic background of native flora
and natural bush features, generally from the brush of Mr A Alder,
taxidermist. Both the idea and the execution merit unstinted
recognition. Prominent in the exhibit is to be seen the Investigator
Tree, round which massive logs cling so much of the history
and romance of Australian exploration 21 .

The Investigator Tree, donated by the Port Office in 1889, is, in fact,
only one log — the 3 metre long portion of the trunk from Sweer's Island,
Gulf of Carpentaria. It was incised during the beaching of Captain
Matthew Flinders' ship, the Investigator, in 1802; and a later incision,
Beagle 1841, was added by one of the members of Charles Darwin's historic
and scientifically important zoological and botanical expedition. As well as
those inscriptions there are Chinese characters and other indistinct
engravings. This diorama had its name changed to The Aboriginal Camp
Site when it was refurbished in the mid 1960s. The dingo and pups were
replaced with newly-mounted specimens and the Investigator Tree,
removed to became a key exhibit in an historical display entitled
Discovering the Way, was replaced with a similar-sized burnt log.

Hamlyn-Harris and his staff produced several room-sized group
displays of Australian and particularly Queensland mammals and birds.
Adjoining each other on the side of the main hall opposite the Aboriginal
diorama there were four semi-diorama animal groups that had large
painted backgrounds and side panels made of canvas stretched to wooden

frames. Alder, assisted by Colclough, painted the scenic panels with oil
colours thinly applied. These groups featured, separately, kangaroos and
wallabies, possums, wombats and carnivorous marsupials including a
Tasmanian tiger, and a group of emus with chicks. Irish peat, imported in
blocks about the size of bricks, was used in all these early dioramas in the
construction of rock and ground forms. The earth surrounds consisted of
peat fragments, and peat dust was always a problem as the dust lodged on
the painted Aboriginal casts and on the specimens and accessories.

At this time Henry Hacker, the capable entomologist appointed in
1911, began to make an excellent series of insect life-histories. His insect
displays included beautiful photomicrographs carefully arranged in table
cases.

"■■■

■ jjpjfc

■

,;*%*# ■*; &

It was the developing talent of Thomas C. Marshall, who had trained
with Alder and Colclough and later studied art under the gifted artist,
potter and woodcarver L.J. Harvey at the Central Technology College, that
paved the way for the advances in the displays between 1920 and 1940 —
during H.A. Longman's tenure as director. Although Marshall was
associated with Alder for only a few years he certainly was greatly
influenced by him. In 1925, under Longman's direction, Marshall created
the Limestone Cave diorama based on the Chillagoe Caves in north
Queensland. Described by The Queenslander at that time as a 'Geological
Fairyland', it was built in the top of a disused staircase. Some actual
stalactites and stalagmites were used but most were created by modelling
them in plaster, cement, expanded metal and powdered glass. Part of the
success of this exhibit, has been the result of the element of mystery that
its creator achieved. It was an open display and often, when the attendant's
back was turned, children entered to discover its secrets. In consequence,
the cave became run-down and was closed about 1950. In 1965,
refurbished, with two false vampire bats mounted and set-up on the
'limestone walls', concealed fluorescent lighting installed, and glazed with

Possums and tree-climbing marsupials-
one of a group of dioramas prepared by
Alder under Hamlyn-Harris' direction
(photograph from the Queenslander 31
January 1914).

The ground floor display gallery in the
Exhibition building in the 1930s.

sloping glass to avoid reflections it was, again, a success. Recently, two
small boys stood in front of the display and one, bending over and peering
in, called to the other 'Betcha don't know where this cave ends?'. 'I do-
comes out at Jenolan Caves at Sydney' was the reply.

The Coral Pool diorama, created in 1928, was Marshall's next success.
It was built at the western end of the main hall and featured ridges of 24
species of coral, a giant clam with the shell valves open showing the purple
body and colourful painted casts of fish, sea-fans, starfish, sea-urchins and
other marine forms. Sadly, it was dismantled in 1955 to make space for
another display. Marshall made models of whales, casts of fossil bones and
a very fine series of fish casts which he painted himself. Longman, with
Marshall's assistance, was the first to exhibit some of the fossil bones of
the Durham Downs dinosaur Rhoetosaurus brownei, together with a plaster
cast skull of the great carnivorous dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex and an oil
painting by Douglas Dundas which illustrated the huge extinct reptiles in
their environment. Jack Woods, when geologist under Director Mack,
reconstructed and improved the display in the 1950s and later the dinosaur
footprint from the ceiling of the Rhondda Colliery at Dinmore was added
by Bartholomai.

In the late 1930s Marshall made two of the earlier films featuring the
marine animals of the Great Barrier Reef, and he was one of the official
photographers during the visit to Queensland in 1954 by Queen Elizabeth
and the Duke of Edinburgh. There is no question that he was the key man
in the better displays of the Longman period. In 1939 he was awarded a
Carnegie scholarship to study abroad but was unable to take it up because
of the outbreak of World War II 22 . He was transferred to the Department of
Harbours and Marine in 1942 and in 1943 became ichthyologist in that
department 23 . He maintained his contact with the museum and was a
regular visitor.

Ivor Filmer assisted in the maintenance of displays from 1944 to 1952.
His keen interest in natural history persisted after he left the museum and
he continued to send in road-killed and storm-washed specimens. While in
charge of the Australian Inland Mission Hospital at Birdsville during the
period 1957-1959 he collected more than 200 vertebrates, including rare
and valuable mammal and bird specimens, some of which were mounted
for display. He usually air-freighted the specimens from Birdsville to

Brisbane and on one occasion he sent a live python, with two rats in the
container to serve as food. However, when museum staff opened the box
they found that instead of the python having eaten the rats, the latter had
nibbled the python.

Meanwhile, other important items that added to the diversity of the
displays and attracted a new audience to the museum had been acquired.
In the morning of 22 August 1919 Mephisto —today the last surviving
World War I German Tank A7V Kampfwagen— was hauled into the
museum grounds by two Brisbane City Council steamrollers. It had been
recovered, disabled, in France by the largely Queensland 26th Batallion
AIF with the assistance of the members of a British tank corps, who towecl
it out of no-mans-land and protected it from subsequent, largely
Australian, souvenir hunters y . The 30 ton tank, consigned to the
Australian War Memorial, was diverted to Brisbane as a resuJt of the
representations of Queenslanders and state officials, including the
governor, whose aide-de-camp was, at the time, Lt. CoL JA Robinson,

T.C. Marshall modelling the Pygmy
Sperm Whale thai came ashore at
Sandgate in 1933. Marshall is working in
the basement area of the museum that
later became the staff tea room.

commanding officer of the 26th Batallion at the time of its recovery. About
1950 Mephisto was cleaned and coated with boiled linseed oil to preserve
it. In 1971 it was repainted by contract painters Smalley Games) Industrial
Coatings and the history and technology section of the museum added
further details in 1974.

Another large technological exhibit was put on permanent display in
1929— the AVRO Avian Cirrus, aircraft G-EBOV, flown solo from England
to Australia by Squadron Leader H.J.L. (Bert) Hinkler (see Chapter 11).
This single-engined aircraft, that made pioneering aeronautical history,
has been a magnet for visitors, drawing people from far and wide.

Longman organised the purchase of several large mammals from the
London firm of Rowland Ward. The first, a magnificent female gorilla,
arrived in 1927, and others followed— tiger, orang-utang, jaguar, cheetah
and a male lion. The Queensland public were thus able to see mammals
that could not be seen locally, as there was no zoological garden in
Brisbane, and the purchase added a new dimension to the mammal
displays. These excellent specimens were also examples of first class
taxidermy— the first in the museum to have been prepared by the

Donald P. Vernon, in 1946 soon after he
came from the National Museum of
Victoria. He remained on the staff of the
Queensland Museum until his
retirement, as ornithologist, in 1981.

manikin method or sculpture-taxidermy. In this process the hollow
artificial bodies were made of plaster reinforced with strips of hessian
immersed in liquid plaster. The skin was then attached to the hollow cast.
This was a tremendous improvement over the old 'stuffing' method that
had been practised in museums for a very long time and which involved
filling the sewn-up skin with one of the various plant fibres such as straw,
hay or sawdust for bodies, and strips of reed or cane for legs. Much of this
material was inserted by 'stuffing irons'— lengths of steel rod flattened
and bent on one end and with a handle on the other. Several of these, of
various lengths up to one metre, used to hang on the wall of the workshop.
They were not used after 1946, for museum preparators soon were making
excellent manikins under the tutorship of Donald P. Vernon, who had
come from the National Museum of Victoria soon after Longman retired.

Displays for Education

Towards the end of 1945 George Mack, formerly ornithologist at the
National Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, was appointed scientific
assistant to Longman and succeeded him as director early the following
year. Vernon, experienced in sculpture-taxidermy, casting and diorama
construction was appointed as preparator in 1946. Like Marshall he had
formal training in art and also in sculpture at the Melbourne Technical
College under George Allen. In 1947 Malcolm E. McAnna was also
appointed a preparator. He had been on the staff of the South Australian
Museum, Adelaide, for many years and was an expert technician. The
standard of displays that this team inherited varied from the excellent
work of Marshall to many poorly displayed and out-of-date exhibits. Apart
from the special attractions — Hinkler's aeroplane, the World War I tank
Mephisto, the Australian Aboriginal Life diorama, there were also the
Torres Strait mummies and the monstrosities case which always excited
comment. The latter attracted viewers because of the bizzare mounted
head and neck of a two-headed calf, a boar's skull with an overgrown tusk
which circled back and pierced its skull, other aberrant skulls, hairballs
from ungulates, a pair of scissors embedded in a tree trunk and other
miscellaneous objects. Mack said The Museum is not a curiosity shop* and
they were quickly removed, as were the many odd signs at the front
entrance to the museum, one of which read 'Eating Peanuts Not Allowed*.
The large eel on display required a new label to replace one that read
*World Record Eel'— Mack was 'against sensational labelling' 25 . He was
keen on educating students in science especially zoology and geology and
at that stage very few secondary schools taught those subjects. He did not
like dioramas and habitat groups, referring to them as 'just peep shows',
and he wanted to present accurate, scientific information in a formal way.

At that time the bird section had a very dated Edwardian appearance
with hundreds of rather poorly mounted specimens set on artificial trees.
Many, such as the ducks and geese, were badly faded and had to be
destroyed. Similarly faded, and in very poor condition were the mounted
monotremes and marsupials, which had suffered serious insect damage. It
was really only the layer of thick dust on their pelts that kept the
specimens' fur intact. In consequence, most of these were destroyed and
their entry in the register is all that remains. Sadly, until Mack initiated it,
mounted specimens on exhibition were not provided with identification
tags tied to the specimens. However even had they been labelled it would
have been impossible to rescue the specimens that were lost at this time.

Nor were conditions in the galleries themselves ideal. In the year of

7«s

Longman's retirement there was excitement and consternation, when at
short notice, on 11 June 1945, the Duke of Gloucester decided to visit the
museum, and on that very day the director was away sick. The duke
arrived, dressed in military uniform with the duchess by his side. They
were accompanied by the governor of Queensland, Sir Leslie Wilson, and
his aide. The welcoming party, comprising J. Edgar Young, an honorary,
Head Attendant Michael P. Beinie, and Ivor G. Filmer the young assistant
on the scientific side, guided the royal couple and the governor around the
galleries. The duke then signed an historic bible, donated by j- Wilkinson,
the first member for Moreton in the federal parliament, It was the same
bible signed by his father King George V when, as Duke of York, he
opened the first federal parliament in 190 L According to Filmer, it was a
dull overcast day and matches had to be lit occasionally to show the duke a
specimen or to light up a label. Looking back one wonders just what the
duke thought about a state museum where matches had to be used for
illumination of specimens and labelling. The museum galleries were lit
with electricity for the first time in their history only in August 1948. after
George Mack became director-'.

A worse problem was the rain water in the gallery during summer
storms. It came through the roof, from perforations in the mortar and from
around the windows and of course it ran down the interior walls. It was
quite a common sight at such times to see distraught attendants heaving
tarpaulins over table cases and placing buckets here and there To catch
water from the main ieaks or spurts. During one storm in L947 water
pQUted down the walls, behind the Ellis Rowan watercolour paintings of
Australian wildftowers. This fine series on Australian Qora. that had been
purchased by the Queensland government in 1912, was moved quteklj £d
safe storage. Since that time some of the paintings have been displayed
several times but only for short periods. Mack, with the cooperation of the
Department of Public Works made a determined effort to make the
building as weatherproof as possible and in due course the external
mortar was repointed. He was adamant though, that the museum needed a
new 'home' and he said so on every possible occasion. His idea was to
'keep the old ship afloat' until a new museum could be built.

Then there were the wooden floors throughout the exhibition
galleries. The cleaning of the floors was a ritual that was religiously
carried out every Monday morning and it was nor without a touch of
humour. It was usual then to see a row of at least four women, down on
their hands and knees and elbow to elbow, scrubbing away in a kind of
leisured unison. There they were— heads down, bottoms up with their
dresses tucked into the legs of their bloomers and woe betide any
assistant who walked on their wet floor or who was audacious enough to
want to open a table case. Of course, the galleries were closed every
Monday for cleaning However, visitors could still gain access by signing
the visitors book in the office. This was not something that Mack could
change, and it was not until 1970 that the floors and stairways were sanded
and Door tiles laid.

From 1948 Jack T. Woods, who had been appointed as a scientific
assistant and later geologist, began the improvement of the displays in the
eastern end of the gallery. Under Mack's direction he organised new wall
cases on The Pleistocene Period and introducing Earth History. Woods
continued with the redevelopment of the Durham Downs dinosaur dispU;.
first exhibited by Longman. Also under glass in a new case was the cast of
the skeleton of the giant fossil marsupial. The extraordinary fossil skull

Malcolm McAnna. preparator 194'

Tlie museum's dinosaur display in the
1960s. Longman's original exhibit had
been progressively improved by Mack,
W(K)ds and Bartholomai. A model of the
gianl carnivorous Tymnnosaunts rex is to
the left of a display of (he bones of
Queensland's Rhoctosaurus bmwnci and
l he footprints from the ceiling of the
Rhondda Colliery,

McAnna tfeft) and Vernon, colleagues
from 1947.

Cecily Sandercock, first artist in the
museum, reconstructs a diprotodon from
the cast of the fossil.

the cheek-pouched marsupial Euryzygoma, which Longman had described,
was the main exhibit in another new case.

Vernon and McAnna mounted mammals and birds and cast many
reptiles and amphibians. At first they also refurbished the old display
cases and then, gradually, year by year, new cases were made by the
Department of Public Works at the Ipswich Road workshops. In the next
few years, several new or remodelled wall and island cases were
prepared— two showing Aboriginal boomerangs and shields, three on the
Great Barrier Reef, two on monotremes and marsupials and one each on
human evolution and human physiology. Invertebrates of certain species
were displayed in preservative fluid inside smart perspex containers that
were made in the museum workshop. The art work in the early 1950s was
executed by Cecily Sandercock who made a solid contribution to the
displays. She was the first artist appointed to the staff.

Mack wrote of these displays in the international journal Museum:
The purpose was to produce an attractive, tasteful and dignified display,
one that would catch the eye and hold the attention of the visitor'"*. He
had a text book attitude to display content and was hard to convince on the
use of colour and imaginative design, but he certainly was keen to aid
students of all ages. In the same article he wrote '... visitors remark upon
what they learn from the bright, well lit, methodically arranged exhibits.
Classes of school children and other well organised public bodies can
readily follow talks given in front of these cases'. For several years Mack
and Shirley B. Gunn lectured in the front section of the main hall where
the Great Barrier Reef cases, lit with fluorescent lighting, were arranged
in an arc,

A valuable contribution to displays in the museum was made by
McAnna, especially between 1950 and 1970. He was skilled at moulding
and casting, and introduced the use of latex for moulds and casts of
reptiles, fish and other animals. When very fine detail was required on
small soft bodied specimens, such as frogs and toads, he used a flexible
agar mould to ensure sharp and fine details in the cast. He experimented
with the use of polyester resins strengthened by fibre glass and with this
method he achieved first class results with his casts of sharks, rays and
fish. The three metre high Sunfish that he cast in 1970 was his last.His

untimely death the next year, while rescuing his three nieces from the
surf at Noosa, was a sad loss to the museum.

In an effort to obtain vertebrate specimens both for the study
collection and for display, Mack organised field work that was undertaken
by several of the staff following a period of inactivity due to decline in staff
during World War II. The museum obtained its first vehicle in about
1950 — a 14 h.p. Commer truck. It was used for the collection of specimens.
The taxidermy at that stage was done by Vernon and Kent Keith, and in
1960 Terence P. Tebble replaced the latter. An extensive series of reptile
casts made by McAnna was painted in oil-colours by several staff artists -
especially Valerie Smeed from 1950 to 1956 and Rhyl Jones from 1958 to
1962. They later became well known artists as Valerie Waring, a
watercolourist and Rhyl Hinwood, a sculptor celebrated for her grotesque
heads in Helidon sandstone in the Great Court of the University of
Queensland.

Although he was seven years too early, Mack organised a special
exhibition on the Centenary of the Queensland Museum in 1955 27 . Two

1 1

m A

f | j

■

Temporary wildflower display, mid-
1960s. Above: the display set up at the
end of the ground floor gallery; below :
visitors examine the exhibits.

Reptile models were made by McAnna
(above) and painted by museum artists,
including Lynette Evans (below) in the
1950s.

wall cases traced the history of the institution with photographs of
directors, curators and collectors, art work and specimens — including
anthropological objects from the MacGregor collection and birds collected
by Broadbent. One section was used to show the extent of the museum's
activities at that time - collecting, mounting, casting, photography and
some aspects of the education programme. This exhibition was followed, in
1959, by a much larger display on the Centenary of Queensland 1859-1959
that consisted of 23 pastel coloured wall panels, two wall cases and other
table cases which exhibited historical items and objects, many of which
were loaned by the Royal Historical Society of Queensland from their
Newstead House collection. The panels featured Queensland Explorers,
First Settlement 1820, Permanent Settlement 1840, Queensland a Colony 1859,
Early Housing, and Transport and Mining. There was also a panel of large
framed historical photographs taken by Richard Daintree in the 1860s and
coloured in London. The wall cases exhibited historical treasures such as
explorer A.C. Gregory's compass; explorer Edmund Kennedy's sextant;
the sundial from the homestead of Queensland's first permanent settler,

Patrick Leslie; a box attributed to explorer Ludwig Leichhardt; the model
of the Pile Light and many other relics. Mack wrote a well illustrated
booklet entitled Centenary of Queensland Historical Exhibition which was
popular with school children 28 . One of the central exhibits of the display
was the large oil painting of Brisbane by Joseph A. Clarke which was
painted in 1880 from the high bank of the Brisbane River at Bowen Park,
New Farm. The painting was deposited in the museum by the Queensland
government in 1882. It had probably been prominent on the wall of the
William Street building and in 1946 it hung on the wall beneath the stained
glass window on the western end of the main hall. Later, in 1968, it was
displayed in the gallery. Unfortunately, this historically important painting
had been prodded by visitors' umbrellas — no doubt while pointing to some
familiar feature — and in addition there was some paint flaking. In quite
recent times it was restored, a new frame made in the museum workshop,
and it now hangs in the cabinet room of the Executive Building in George
Street, Brisbane. It cannot be regarded as a masterpiece but it is a fine
painting of Brisbane as it was 20 years before the turn of the century.
Clarke was a resident of Brisbane in the 1870s and from 1881 he was the
first teacher of freehand drawing at the old Brisbane School of the Arts 29 .

Daintree's coloured photographs have also been displayed on many
occasions. In 1877 they were loaned to the Sydney exhibition, along with
some mineral specimens (see Chapter 14) and they were proudly
displayed by the museum in its William Street building as well as in the
Gregory Terrace building early in the 20th century. They were the subject
of a special temporary display in 1977 and have been published by the
museum as a record of the early pioneers of Queensland 30 . Daintree had
arranged for the over-painting of these photographs— many taken by
himself and some later ones of the Gympie and Darling Downs areas by
Heinrich Muller— to be done in London when he was agent-general for
Queensland. It is not known how many sets there were but there appear to
have been at least three and probably more. There was one in the agent-
general's office and another, from the 1871 Colonial Exhibition in London,
remained in South Kensington for a while. The museum appears to have
had one set early in the 1870s. There was a set shown in successive
exhibitions in Paris, Vienna and Philadelphia. Apart from their historical
value as pictorial records of Queensland in the 1860s the over-painted

-• *

(■' TO*-'

Don Vernon preparing a specimen of an
Australian Bustard Enpodotis australis at
his camp near Springsure, September
1965.

Stanley Breeden, museum photographer
1957-65.

Daintree photographs are an interesting and curious example of a
technique that flourished briefly at a time when photography was seen as a
mere adjunct to painting. They were often embellished with details that
were not in the original photograph— for instance an Aborigine or a
kangaroo is sometimes added. Indeed, because of the coloured and
obviously painted surface of the photographs they were long believed to be
paintings.

Many of the enlargements of other photographs exhibited in Mack's
Centenary of Queensland exhibition were prepared by Stanley Breeden. He
was appointed in 1957, succeeding R.V. Oldham. He developed expertise in
natural history, cine and still photography and he took part in field trips
photographing wild fauna and collecting specimens. Over a period of eight
years he built up the photographic section and this became invaluable both
in research and for display in the museum. Breeden's later photographic
work achieved an international reputation.

Influences from Abroad

Following Mack's death in 1963 rapid progress was made by Jack T.
Woods. Possibly as a result of an overseas study tour of museums soon
after his appointment he brought a deal of enthusiasm to his job as
director that infected the whole staff. He favoured development of
historical and technological displays as well as the geological displays that
to some extent had been neglected under Mack. Further, he permitted a
certain flair in design and a better use of colour and arrangement than had
hitherto been approved; and he sought displays that combined the
information and educational emphasis that Mack favoured with the visual
impact that could be achieved with modern design, materials and lighting.
From 1966, with the appointment of artificer W.J. Balaam, display furniture
was made in the museum, its design now part of that of the overall display.
It certainly was an improvement on the standard cabinets which, up to that
time had been supplied by the Department of Works from the Ipswich
Road workshops.

By this time there were additions to the staff and the new appointees
became involved with the display design, usually under Wood's direction.

To a greater extent than was evident previously these new displays
reflected the new trend to use objects to communicate information on
whole subjects rather than information on the object per se. John C. Hodge,
the first education officer on the staff produced a display on the evolution
of man. Bruce M. Campbell, newly appointed curator of zoology, planned
the 14 metre long Sharks and Rays open display, with a new mollusc
display built into the back of it, and an innovative skeleton gallery, that
included two fine models by Tebble — one a human knee joint which the
viewer could operate. Bartholomai, now curator of geology, organised Oil
and Gas in Queensland, reorganised the minerals in a series of table and
upright cases of new design, and used mineral and gemstone samples to
demonstrate igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. Woods, with
Vernon's assistance, also organised displays on a wide range of subjects—
Discovering the Way, Myths and Customs of Torres Strait, From Flame to
Fluorescent and Focus on Progress.

H.A. Sweetser, who had been appointed to the technology section of
the museum in 1966, began collecting and restoring machines, wagons and
a variety of technological items. Some old exhibits such as the model of an
early stockyard, a draw-card with children over the years, was refurbished

HARKS

Innovative new displays were a feature of
the mid-1960s. A Hammer-head shark,
cast by McAnna— one of the early
fibreglass models.

and returned to the main hall. One of the large technological exhibits he
restored was the beam engine from Lars Anderson's Sawmill at Esk that
had been built in England in 1866, and from 1973 it was displayed in the
museum gardens.

Another historic aircraft was acquired that complemented the AVRO
Avian Cirrus that had come to the museum in 1929. It was the AVRO Baby,
flown by Bert Hinkler in 1920- 192 1 31 . As well as this tiny aeroplane, many
Hinkler photographs and documents of great value — a dashboard clock, a
pair of fur-lined gloves and other memorabilia— have been acquired and
displayed through the determined efforts of E. Wixted, the museum's
librarian and aviation historian (see Chapter 11). In a visitor survey carried
out in 1977 by the museum it was found that Hinkler and his aircraft were
among the most memorable of the museum displays 32 .

Incorporated in the developing historical section of the gallery was
Mary Beatrice Watson's water tank— a half-tank used for boiling down the
beche-de-mer that her husband fished. It was in this tank that she, a
Chinese servant and her infant son, threatened by Aborigines, fled their
stone cottage on Lizard Island north-east of Cooktown in 1881, only to die
of thirst on one of the Howick group of islands 33 . The display with her

The restoration team led by Jack Kunze
(standing on (ruck tray) deliver Bert
Hinkler's AVRO Baby to the museum in
1972. Restoration was funded by the
Royal Queensland Aero Club.

The Samford Bora Ground, a miniature
diorama of the mid-1960s, the figures
about 14cm high, designed by Eleanor
Crosby and modelled and painted by
volunteer artist Iris Nunley.

Immortalising Queensland's fauna.
Margaret Oakden recording colours
while David Joffe {left) assists Tebble in
the preparation of the mould.

'if ^fmtfi

II J 4

portrait and other exhibits told the graphic story of her last heroic days.

Another successful display of this period was The Samford Bora
Ground based on an Aboriginal ceremonial area close to Brisbane. Both
the background and the miniature Aboriginal figures 14 centimetres high
were executed by volunteer artist Iris Nunley.

When Woods visited London in 1965 he agreed to have prepared a
large mounted Red Kangaroo for display at Queensland House in the
Strand. Shortly after, a giant old man kangaroo of this species was donated
by the Lone Pine Sanctuary, Brisbane, and gave the museum preparators
an opportunity to demonstrate their skills. During the 1950s and 1960s it
was not possible in Brisbane to have local tanners tan skins to museum
standards — especially difficult were the important parts such as the
eyelids, nostrils, ears and lips. Instead, the skin was chrome-tanned, as
were other large mammal specimens at that time, in a special 44 gallon
(200 1) tanning drum. It was electrically driven and rotated slowly to keep
the skins rolling, thus shortening the tanning process. This procedure was
followed by the addition of sulphonated neatsfoot oil to the solution to
soften the skins which were then dried, sandpapered, softened again with
oil, and the hairside cleaned and blown dry. The resultant skins were
strong and elastic, had perfect facial parts and digits and were suitable for
attachment to the manikin or artificial body. The specimen was mounted
by the manikin method of sculpture-taxidermy.

Present day large mammal mounting is sculpture-taxidermy. The
cleaned skull, limb bones and pelvis are arranged on a steel armature and
an exact clay or plasticene model is prepared with the musculature correct
as it would have been in life. As the modelling progresses the skin is tried
on and adjustments are made until life-like lines and the pose desired are
obtained — a job requiring artistic ability. Plaster moulds are then made
and casts of polyester resin reinforced with fibre-glass cloth are produced
from the moulds. The casts are strong and durable yet thin and light. They
are a considerable improvement over the earlier plaster manikins although
they are hard to pin to, and pinning around the eyes and lips is essential in
order to achieve good detail. To prevent drumming across concave areas,
such as between muscles, pinning must be done when the skin is still
moist 34 .

From before the days of the Egyptian pharoahs, when taxidermy was
a funerary art, plaster, clay and wax were the most commonly used
materials for making moulds and casts. After World War II museum
preparators were quick to take advantage of the new synthetic materials
that were becoming available. In very recent years Senior Preparator
Tebble and others of the preparatorial staff have been making moulds of
the larger animals in polyester resin strengthened with fibre glass. These
moulds are carefully prepared and the inside is treated with a release
agent. A steel armature is set inside the mould, the mould halves bolted
tightly together, and a two-pot mixture of polyurethane is mixed and
poured into the mould. The foam expands to fill the mould, turning into a
porous but fairly hard manikin that can be cut and worked on, but one that
is also light and will take pins readily. Previously, both large and small
bird bodies were modelled to the correct shape on a wire armature using
sisal binding which was then covered with a layer of liquid celluloid, but
now larger birds are also modelled in polyurethane. Many of the smaller
birds as well as invertebrates are now freeze-dried without any other
operation being done other than setting their positions.

Flexible moulding materials such as resins, silicones, latex rubber and

Vernon prepares a model of a Red
Kangaroo, using techniques of sculpture
taxidermy. The specimen was prepared
for display at Queensland House,
London, top: the mannikin; below: fitting
the skin.

The whale wall, set up in 1965.

alginates are also being used. Being flexible, piece-moulding is largely
eliminated and intricate shapes can be reproduced in microscopic detail.
The moulds are typically thin, light and robust — many can be rolled up—
and they are easily transported. In Australia, Tebble was the first museum
preparator to use latex reinforced with cotton stockingette to mould large
objects— the Winton dinosaur trackways, the Texas caves, termite mounds
and the rockface of columnar basalt at Merrivale in south-east
Queensland.

In 1964 a plaster model of a pigmy sperm whale that Marshall had
made some 30 years before was being recast in fibreglass for conservation.
As the original model was broken up for disposal a piece of plywood fell
out with a message, in Marshall's writing, carefully written on it. Marshall,
now an old man, visited the museum for the annual Christmas party and
was told that a message of his had been found. He immediately knew
where it had been found and recited the message — 'Longman is a B...\
Exasperated because of Longman's refusal to purchase 200 square feet of
plywood for a case, he had placed the message in the time capsule. Some
days later, he related, he was given the quick nod to purchase the same
amount of material by simply and cunningly requesting a mere six sheets.

A Modern Museum

The progress that was achieved under Woods continued with renewed
vigour as his successor, Bartholomai, stimulated by an overseas study tour
of museums in 1974 — some five years after he had taken office — saw the
need to improve the design section. From this time there were many new
appointments to the staff in all sections of the museum. Between 1969 and
1980 new displays were developed at an unprecedented rate, old displays
were restored and modernized and there were temporary displays on a
wide range of subjects— some being developed in the museum and some
arriving as travelling exhibitions.

In 1965 a 13 metre long skeleton of a sei whale, washed up by the high
tide at Tin Can Bay, had been collected and prepared for exhibition in the
Marine Mammals exhibit. Organised by Campbell, it was completed in
1970, and featured the skeleton mounted against the silhouette of its body
shape. Associated with it were various harpoons and other items of the old
whaling industry. The four metre long lower mandible of a sperm whale
that had been exhibited on the verandah for decades was cleaned and
included in the arrangement. This was a 'touch' exhibit and wherever
people could reach, the skeleton positively shone from the stroking of

hundreds of hands. The public welcomed this and the exhibit seems to
have suffered little effect from years of handling on open display.

The Bird Hall was redeveloped over several years in the early 1970s
by Vernon, who by now had become ornithologist. A large panel was
devoted to Flightless Birds with cast portions of New Zealand moa and the
cast of the huge egg oiAepyornis maximus from Madagascar. In close
proximity were Australia's two large flightless birds, the emu and the
cassowary. Several dioramas were constructed which featured the Golden,
Satin and Tooth-billed Bower birds and the amazing diversity of bower
construction. Backgrounds were painted by Susan Hiley, Mary McKenzie
and Eloise Gehrmann respectively. A diorama featuring the male and
female Superb Lyrebird and its repertoire of calls was also a part of this
redesigned section of the museum. The background was painted by
volunteer artist Mavis Vernon, wife of D.P. Vernon, who previously had
painted the background of the Hairy-nosed Wombat diorama. The
foreground rocks, vegetation, the lyre-bird mound, nest and egg were

One of a series of small habitat dioramas,
the Golden Bower Bird, developed in
1970.

The Hairy-nosed Wombat, a display
created in 1970 by Vernon, the
background painted by his wife. Mavis
Vernon.

The Durham Downs dinosaur,
Rhoetosaurus brownei, spray painted on
the wall of the gallery by staff artist,
Peter Berryman, 1975.

installed by Anthony Hiller of the preparation staff. The taped calls of the
male bird were activated by a remote control switch which operated when
the viewer stood in front of the diorama on two large black foot-prints that
had been painted on the floor. On one occasion a confused man with shoes
and socks in hand was noticed standing bare-footed on the foot-prints. He
looked up rather sheepishly, and enquired 'Do I really have to take these
off to make the birds call?'. Other dioramas featured the Noisy Pitta, the
Crimson Chat and the Black Noddy with background paintings by
Margaret McKenzie. In the finch display an innovation was the inclusion
in the main label of a quotation from a poem by Thomas W. Shapcott 35 :

A tiny spill of bird things in a swirl

and crest and tide that splashed the garden's edge,

a chatterful of finches filled the hedge

and came upon us with a rush and curl

and scattering of wings

In 1976 Ingram and Campbell with Vernon had completed the
innovative bird audiovisual display which featured several song birds
including the Bell Miner, Pied Butcher bird, Whipbird and Kookaburra.
The sequence was activated by a simple mechanical switch under the floor
in front of the first wall case. As each bird species lit up, the appropriate
calls were heard. Another section of this unit allowed the visitor to project
any one of a series of 80 colour slides of birds. Nearby, the language of
birds— in this instance the Noisy Miner— was interpreted in two wall
cases showing how birds call and how they convey information to other
birds of the same species by their body postures. Dr D.D. Dow of the
University of Queensland, who had studied the extensive vocabulary of the
Noisy Miner, gave invaluable assistance. From this time bird 'touch'
specimens were also put on open display— such as a Barn Owl and certain
specially prepared birds' eggs. Birds and the bird audiovisual displays
were regarded as 'the best', the 'most liked' and the 'displays in which
visitors spent most time' according to the visitor survey of 1977 32 . Perhaps
people liked the audio-visual aspects of the display or perhaps they just
liked the birds.

Also in 1974, the curator of entomology, Edward C. Dahms introduced

a touch of humour into Henry Hacker's old insect displays by redesigning
them with coloured cartoon characters to communicate the story line *

During the years 1970-1974 Michael Quinnell, curator of
anthropology, organised 20 display units featuring various aspect- at
Melanesian anthropology. Some magnificent specimens, many from the
MacGregor collection, were selected for this gallery exhibition. Specially
featured was a portion of the gable end of a Sepik mens' cult house. It is a
striking design, with symbolic heads painted with earth pigments on palm
sheaths joined together. Other items, such as the large wooden food bowl
with fretwork handles from the Admiralty Islands, and the carved figures,
some inlaid with shells, show beautiful craftsmanship.

In 1975 Mary Wade, curator of geology, organised a complete
modernisation of the dinosaur gallery including the Durham Downs
dinosaur Rhoetosaunts brownei, that had originally been displayed by
Longman and successively reorganised and added to by Woods and
Bartholomai. A life-size mural painting of Rhoetosaurus was spray-painted

on the wall by Peter Berryman, fossil bones collected at Taloona Station in
1924 were displayed in the foreground, and a cast of the Lark Quarry
dinosaur trackways was set up (see Chapter 7). The brick-red colour-
impregnated polyester cast of the dinosaur trackways was first moulded in
latex from the mudstone surface in the field by Tebble and assistants.
Associated with the dinosaur exhibit, Wade organised a display on the
Cretaceous Mamie Reptiles— a plesiosaur, a pliosaur, an ichthyosaur and
some fossil bones of each from western Queensland, which, one hundred
million years ago, when Australia was connected to Antarctica, had been
covered by the sea.

There was a new and spectacular development in the display of
dinosaurs when, in 1976, with funds earned through a consultancy 37 , a life-
sized fibre-glass model of Tricemtops was purchased from Jonas Bros .
New York, for about $15,000. In 1978 a second model, of the carnivorous
TyrannosQurus rex, was purchased for a similar sum with a grant from the
Utah Foundation. Both models, exhibited in a prey-predator confrontation
as may have occurred in the late Cretaceous Period, were set up in the
museum grounds adjacent to the main entrance and near the tank
Mephisto and the beam engine.

Muriels Iruin Jonas Brus. New Wh,
assembled in the museum grounds Left:
utops, purchased in 1976 \L to R: I.
Tebble, A. LWJhulurnui, R Campbell, M.

I i. lb; abort': TyrOKnosaUTHS rex,
purchased in 1978 with funds granted by
the Utah Foundation.

The last new display to be mounted in the museum's Gregory Terrace
building was of Kingsford Smith's biplane AVRO Avian VH UQG —
Southern Cross Minor— in which he had attempted his 1931 Australia-
England flight. Wixted, whose efforts resulted in its acquisition for the
museum, says of the aircraft 'that it is the sentinel to Lancaster's final
heroic days and a symbol of the successes and failures of the pioneering of
aviation' 3 ".

William Newton Lancaster had acquired the plane for his attempt on
the England-Capetown record. He left on 11 April 1933, but two days
later he disappeared over the Sahara desert. In February 1962 his body,
half buried in the sand beneath the wing of his crashed plane, was found
by a motorised patrol of the French Foreign Legion.

Wixted, already with the two historic Hinkler aircraft in the museum's
collection, obtained information on the wrecked aircraft through the
French Embassy in Canberra and in 1972 he involved Australian crews in
the UDT World Cup Motor Rally, which was crossing the Sahara. In
November 1975 a 14-member volunteer expedition— organised by Wylton
Dickson, Australian organiser of the UDT Rally — set out from London.
The expedition, in its two four-wheel drive vehicles located and recovered
the wreck. Three years after— released at last by Algerian customs
authorities— the remains of the aircraft reached London and were
displayed there, at Australia House, in May- June 1979. QANTAS flew the
crated remains to Australia. On 11 February 1980, the anniversary of its
discovery in the desert, a display featuring the Southern Cross Minor as it
was found by the French patrol 18 years before, opened in the museum.

In the Exhibition building, continuing a tradition begun in the
museum when it was in the old Post Office building in the 19th century,
live animals have been displayed from time to time. There were live
pythons and, from 1926, Queensland Iungfish, Neoceratodus, exhibited on
the verandah of the exhibition hall. In 1946 freshwater tortoises were also
displayed. One of the large aquaria used for displaying these specimens —
the one for the Iungfish— was donated by the Bancroft family, the
descendants of the museum board member of 1876-94. In a corner of the
lower gallery, just inside the building—

Errol Beutel (assistant, history and
technology) and Robert Wood (attendant)
contemplate part of the remains of
Kingsford Smith's Southern Cross
Minor- the AVRO Avian VHUQG, in
which Lancaster lost his life in the
Sahara desert in 1933. The 'as found'
display of the crash site was opened on
11 February 1980, 18 years after it was
chanced upon by a patrol of the French
Foreign Legion.

Welcome Swallows (Hirundo neoxena) have nested every year for the
last 15 years. They don't stay here all year, but leave during May and
return in August to use a small mud nest in a corner of the lower
gallery. The swallows are very noisy when they first return at the
end of winter. For a few days they chirp and sing volubly, mostly
from perches close to the nest. Then they become relatively quiet as
the female begins to repair and refurbish the nest. She gathers
feathers and grass, which she stores on a nearby cupboard. Mud,
collected from outside, is mixed with the grass and feathers to make
a paste with which to repair the nest. Soft downy plants and feathers
are used for nest lining 39 .

—

3T:

Latex mould of the Winton dinosaur
trackways laid out in the museum
grounds prior to casting in glass fibre

The Future

From 1978 the museum, now armed with the experience that many of
its staff had acquired through visits to many institutions in Europe and the
American continent, turned its attention with increasing focus and tempo,
to the preparation of new displays to open in the new building in the
Queensland Cultural Centre. Campbell assumed responsibility for the
programme.

The planning of displays for the new building started before the
building itself was defined. It was difficult to imagine what the displays
should be like. The absolute freedom to select from many philosophies and
approaches made decisions difficult. Most museum staff agreed that
displays should be attractive and informative, should educate through
entertainment, should proceed from the known to the unknown, should, if
possible, be of interest to specialist and uninformed audiences alike,
should appeal to young and old, should be integrated with academic
curricula but not confined to them, should be for the benefit of
Queenslanders and interstate and overseas tourists, should project the
museum's image into the twenty-first century, and must be based on the
objects in the collections — interpreting and placing them in a context that
would lead the viewer to a greater understanding of his environment—
both natural and man-made. A tall order, indeed.

To plan and build displays, in the shapeless voids of a yet-to-be
designed building, building blocks were needed. What, was asked, are the

Preparation of cast of a meat ants' nest.
Below right: washing out the latex cast;
below: the cast prepared for display.

units of a display— the units of visual excitement and information?
Clearly, the object itself is the basis of the display— it has been collected
and preserved as the irrefutable evidence of truth. However, to present
this truth and to show otherwise unseen aspects of the object — its usage
and significance — interpretative information is needed in words or texts,
graphics or illustrations or by association of groups of objects to suggest
relationships of form, function or design. Definition of the unit of display is
also limited by the viewer's experience and subjective perception. From
these considerations the unit can be defined as an Immediately Perceivable
and Obviously Cohesive Assemblage of Material items — an IPOCAM. A
catalogue of such natural assemblages of articles held in the collections
was compiled. The only limitation was the size of the collections— and the
lists kept growing.

The IPOCAMS gradually fell into natural sequences— they could be
laid end to end and tell the whole story of change— the earth and the
geological history of Queensland with its fossil evidence of past life, the
present animal life of Queensland and how its diversity has been achieved
and maintained by a variety of solutions to the problems of being alive, the
people of Queensland before and after European settlement and how they
used the land and technology to improve their standards and way of life.

It was now toward the end of 1978, the building plans had progressed
to the stage where approximate floor areas were known and planning to
lay out the 'grand story of the meaning of everything' began. There were
three display floors. Working in sequence from the beginning, essential
geology and palaeontology IPOCAMS could be fitted into the first two
floors leaving the third floor for half of the animals. Starting from the
other end and working backwards, post-European settlement and
technology took up the top floor, pre-European peoples barely fitted the
middle floor and again there could be only half of the animals on the first
floor. Cutting the story back to fit the physical space left so many holes
that the 'grand story' became incoherent. Some drastic rethinking was
needed — it was now well into 1979.

Visitor behaviour was surveyed and it was found that the average
visitor spends less than two hours at the museum, at intervals greater
than four years apart — hardly long enough to absorb the 'grand story' in
its entirety. Few visitors came with specific expectations, and their pattern
of movement from display to display was usually unrelated to any
continuous theme — indeed they may not even have perceived the themes.

Spectacular, magnificent, splendid displays in museums all around the
world survive fifty years and more. If the major items and memorable
displays have such a long life expectancy it is not surprising that the
impression of museums is that they never change; and that having been
taken to a museum as a child there is no need to revisit it until one's own
children are old enough to be taken— as witness the experience of
generations of visitors to the Queensland Museum who first had seen the
Aboriginal Campsite as children. Had the galleries been large enough to
show sufficient items from the collections to illustrate 'the grand story of
life and everything' the new museum would be complete. There would be
no need to change anything— and a museum that doesn't change is not
worth a revisit.

So, in order to remove any temptation to attempt the grand theme in
the display design, the three display floors in the new building were
chopped into fifteen rooms of varying sizes from 250 to 400 square metres
and were called 'pods'. Each pod was assigned a theme on a completely
random, arbitrary basis— on the lower gallery there would be
photography, fishing and transport; on the middle gallery, engines, giant
termite mounds, rat plagues and rainforest Aborigines; and on the upper
gallery, Mesozoic fossils, minerals, birds and Melanesian anthropology.

Because there is no logical sequence or association of themes, one
pod can be replaced with minimal disruption— and looking to the future
the commitment is to do this every few years. Regular visitors will then
find two or three new pods every year and the number of regular visitors
may increase; and, as they become absorbed in the contents of the small,
self-contained pods with their simple, obvious themes perhaps the average
visitor will spend more time at the museum than once he would have.

The advantage of having a few well developed display themes is offset
by the disadvantage of having to exclude many otherwise interesting
themes for which there could be strong public demand. Many favourites
from the old museum building, as well as new favourites not included in
other themes, have been kept in one large pod. Another pod contains
reference material — specimens, books, photographs, leaflets— on all the
topics covered by the museum's collections that might be of interest. Here
the public can learn to identify their own specimens by comparing them
with the collections and can also consult museum staff.

At the beginning of the new display programme it was realised that to
create 5,000 square metres of display in four years was going to take more
staff than the number involved in maintaining the 2,000 square metres in
the old building. With some augmentation the strong preparation section
under Tebble handled display construction and installation, but the small,
capable art section had no experience of designing major displays.
Architect R. Belcher was appointed to design building and display
furniture and in 1979 the art/design section was increased from four to
ten, with D. Bligh as senior artist and R.A. Coleman as designer. Coleman
subsequently took over the newly formed maritime archaeology section
and was replaced as designer by D.L. Gilbert. The south wing of the old
building, formerly the home of the Queensland Art Gallery, was converted

Preparing a cast of a termite mound
Above: applying latex; Mow: removing
the fibreglass jacket

Mounting the cast of the Queensland
dinosaur, Muttaburrasaurus for the new
galleries in South Brisbane— a 'man at
work' display in 1985, before the
museum closed to the public.

Paul Stumkat, cadet preparator, working
on the cast of an Amberjack for the
displays in South Brisbane.

into an art studio and set-up area, with darkrooms and photographic
studio— although the metal halogen lights installed in the six metre high
ceiling, to dispel the gloom of the old building, cast multiple shadows on
the drawing boards and were disastrous for accurate colour photography.

As displays went into production M.J. Schofield, in the technology
section's metal workshop, fabricated some of the components, as did the
artificers, P. Quinn and D. Adsett. Although the old carpenters shed was
cramped, all the woodwork components were prefabricated units, small
enough to transported to the new building. Finally, in 1982, WA Brooker
was appointed to the new position of electronics technician to develop
microprocessor controlled modules for lighting, audio, video and
projectors.

In the early stages — between 1980 and 1982 — there were many false
Starts. Displays were planned and shelved, planning processes were tried
and rejected, but eventually effective procedures evolved. Concepts were
proposed by curators arid later approved by a display committee, and each
concept was developed, designed and transformed into a display by a
working group consisting of a curator to provide information, select
specimens and ensure accuracy; -i design artist; a communication expert
from the education section; a preparator; and a co-ordinator to schedule-
progress and report back to the display committee. A working manual was
produced before each pod was constructed, and full working drawings of
all components were prepared so that the architects of the new building
could be kept informed of the requirements for room and case sizes.

As each component of each pod Was produced it was inspected,
approved, and stored in a warehouse at West End, To protect this huge
investment in time, money, effort and skill, regular inspections of the
stored displays were made to ensure that insect pests, fungus, and rats
had not been active.

Complete installation manuals were compiled for each pod. These
included detailed drawings for assembly; estimates of time and the
number of people needed for installation; lists of all materials— paints and
tools— required; and they recorded the location of all items— constructed
components, finished art- work, and those in collection storage or on
display in the old building. Installation of the pods in the new building was
co-ordinated with the fitout of the galleries by the Department of Works
and each took eight weeks to install.

Most of the displays being created for the new building were based on
items already in the collection, but many of these were in existing
displays. Efforts were made to leave the old displays intact for as long as
possible, but by 1985 there were a lot of gaps. As compensation for the
public and visitors, the big skeleton of Queensland's most complete
dinosaur— Miittaburrasaimis — was assembled in the display gallery as a
'men at work' exhibit. This preview of one of the spectacular items being
prepared for the foyer of the new building, helped keep the galleries alive
for a while. In the end, Bert Hinkler's AVRO Avian had to be restored and
cleaned ready to be hung in the new building— which meant dismantling
the wall holding the whale skeleton. Inevitably, and reluctantly, the display
galleries m the old museum building had to close to the public and on 3
November 1985, after nearly 85 years of continuous service, this occurred.

The philosophy, content, production and installation of displays in the
new museum galleries were thus resolved, The approach is innovative.
For, although some aspects of it have been developed in other parts of the
world, there does not appear to be another museum that has combined

changing, semi-permanent displays of selected, non-related themes with a
publicly accessible reference collection to provide continuity of coverage in
all fields of interest. It will be an exciting time for the museum when it
opens its new displays; and it is an exciting future that is planned to keep
the people of Queensland entertained and informed.

Views of the display galleries,
Queensland Museum 1984.

j£*

Previous page: George Mad: v.
ot" teachers examining mammals
tphotugraph (rum the Centner Mail
18 April 19653,

From the lime it was founded the members of the Philosophical
Society met regularly to discuss the scientific papers one or
another of their number presented, and today, to us, the titles
ot these papers do not sound so very different from those in a
modern scientific journal. The subjects demonstrate the
interests that were the stimulus for the foundation of the society — the
fauna and flora, the geology, exploration, the Aboriginal people,
technology— in fact they were the subjects that still endure as the primary
responsibilities of a state museum in Australia; Charles Coxen spoke 'On
the Marsupialia'. 'Habits of the Regent Bower Bird', The Geology of
Western Queensland', and the 'Komillaroy Tribe'; Silvester Diggles
delivered papers 'On the Use of Insects to Man', 'Thoughts suggested by
t he Theory of Mr Darwin', and 'A Trip to Cape Sidmouth and back' \ These
papers were published in the Guardian so that the whole community had
;s to the information that was being collected by the members of the
society. As well as being able to visit its museum to view displays the
community derived this additional benefit from its existence — it was a
A expert information.
As the museum developed, and its staff and skills grew, it replaced
the Philosophical Society and continued to serve the community in these
two ways: by displaying objects and labelled specimens that its visitors
could study and enjoy; and by providing information, not only in response
to questions put to it but also through newspaper articles, educational
programmes and material rhat supplemented the school system, and
through teacher training and adult education.

The Visitors

There is no record of public use of the museum while it was in the
Windmill. However, in 1871 after the collections had been moved into
Queen Street, in the centre of the town, and Charles Coxen had officially
been appointed the honorary curator, lie inserted the following notice in
the Government Gazette;

Rooms in the parliamentary building set apart for purposes oJ a
museum will be open to visitors from 10 am to 3 pm on Mondays,
Wednesdays and Saturdays. Admission can be obtained by
application at the Legislative Assembly Messenger's Room.

Contributions of Geological and natural History specimens and also
anything else of possible interest mil be thankfully acknowledged by
the undersigned who will be happy to afford any information as to
the scope and object of the Institution 1 '

The displays expanded— some into the Post Office building a little
further up Queen Street, others remaining in the Parliamentary building
for a short time until more space became available in the Post Office
building. The newly appointed custodian was also government analyst and
he spent a lot of time doing mineral assays. However, he must have
devoted time to the operation of the museum, for regard and affection for
it in its new Post Office site was developing and its role in the community
was becoming established. On 28 June 1878 the trustees approved the By-
Laws and Rules of the Board of Trustees oftfw Queensland Museum. Rule 12,
under the heading 'Opening of the museum to the Public' stated that the
museum should be open for at least 'five days in each week and for not
less than eight hours in each day', It is probable that from the time it
moved to the Post Office building the museum was open for six days a
week, until on 19 April 1880 the trustees were of the opinion that the
galleries needed to be closed occasionally 'for cleaning and rearranging

102

specimens'. It was suggested that two half days a month would be
sufficient. Curator Haswell— who always looked to Sydney for
inspiration — said that 'the Sydney museum was closed every Monday
during the whole day'. Apparently a compromise was reached and the
museum was closed every first and second Monday until 5 September
1884 when the trustees decided to close it every Monday.

In 1881 there was a debate in parliament regarding a request from the
museum to open on Sunday afternoons. Petitions opposing this proposal
were submitted by church groups. In spite of the opposition the museum
did open on Sundays and attendances contined to increase. The
Queensland Post Office Directory for 1883-84 carried an advertisement for
the museum, stating that it was open to the public on weekdays—
including Saturdays— from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm and on Sundays from 2.00
pm to 5.00 pm. These opening times remained until only a few years ago
when Len Taylor, senior attendant since 1964, led his colleagues in
successful negotiations to establish a special state industrial award for
museum attendants. This made provision for weekend work in line with
that enjoyed by art gallery attendants and made it possible for the
museum to be open for 7 hours on each of the seven days of the week in
the years leading up to 3 November 1985.

Since 1881 the galleries of the museum have been closed to visitors on
Good Friday, Christmas Day and recently Anzac Day too. Between 1884
and 1970 the galleries were closed every Monday — except when Monday
was a public holiday — for cleaning. However, access was still possible by
signing the visitors' book in the office. The museum was closed from 7
January to 15 March 1880 for the move to William Street; from 2
November 1899 to 1 January 1901 when it moved to Gregory Terrace; and
from 3 November 1985 to 2 October 1986 for the move to South Brisbane.
The only other extended period when it was closed to the public was from
20 May to 15 July 1919 during the disastrous Spanish influenza epidemic
when the Isolation Hospital in the Exhibition grounds had been extended
to the Wool Annex in close proximity to the museum's garden 3 . The
museum closed on 17 January 1911, the day of its noted collector Kendall

Ronald Ham lyn- Harris (standing left)
with a class of deaf, dumb and blind
children on the verandah of the museum
(photograph from the Brisbane Courier 13
March 1915).

103

Broadbent's funeral. There also were day or half-day closures when the
speaker of the Legislative Assembly died (11 March 1911); for the state
funerals of W. Hamilton (30 July 1920), Sir Samuel Griffith (11 August
1920), J. Page (11 June 1921), T.J. Ryan (4 August 1921), and Premier E.M.
Hanlon (16 January 1952); and it closed on 22 January 1936 when King
George V died. At the end of World War I it closed at noon on 12
November 1918 and all day on 29 November 1918 for an Armistice
Celebration. Again, at the end of World War II the museum had special
holidays on V-E day (9 May 1945) and on 13 August 1945 with the news of
the offer of the Japanese to surrender. When the Japanese did surrender
(15 August 1945) the galleries were closed from the time of the
announcement and for the public holiday the following day 4 .

The museum has also been closed from time to time because of the
age of the building and concerns for the safety of staff and public. It was
closed for alterations to the ground floor for the first fortnight of June 19 1L
After the Queensland Art Gallery had expressed doubts about the
soundness of the building, before it moved out in 1974, the museum
became cautious about the safety of its own display galleries. When the
floor of the upper gallery seemed to be squeaking more than usual the
galleries were closed until engineers confirmed that the floor was not
moving. The galleries were also closed for fumigation of some display
cases infested with the West Indian dry-wood termite introduced to
Brisbane during World War II; and when a highly venomous rough-scaled
snake escaped from its cage in the basement room of the curator of
reptiles. Storm water flooding the galleries has occasionally been the cause
of their closure— when the downpipes were blocked by a pigeon's nest;
during the first Saturday of the January 1974 floods; and in 1985 when, just
before 5 pm on a Friday afternoon, a sudden violent hailstorm broke 360
windows in the building and the museum remained closed the next day
while staff mopped up and stuck plastic sheeting over the broken windows
to prevent further rain entering the building.

From the time of the appointment of the first board of trustees in
February 1876 some reliable indications of public acceptance of the
museum are available. August that year was the most popular month with
3714 visitors, probably reflecting the arrival of country visitors for
Brisbane's first Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition. This August influx
of country visitors is still a major feature of the museum's attendance 110
years later. A display by the museum was also a feature at the National
Association's Exhibition that year, pioneering a method of reaching a wider
audience that is continued today. On the busiest day of the year in 1876
there were 539 visitors to the museum. The total number of visitors for
1876 was 28,202 — 16% of the population of Queensland at that time 5 . The
museum was clearly enjoying considerable public regard and interest. It
was attracting visitors, entertaining them, and perhaps even educating
them. Certainly it was gaining support — but, of course, in those times
there was little by way of regular free entertainment, consequently the
museum, in a remote and raw colony starved for information and cultural
activity, had virtually no competition.

Prior to the construction of its own building in 1878-79 there was an
active debate, through the correspondence section of the Brisbane Courier,
about whether the proposed site in William Street, within a quick walk of
the main business centre, or a site in the Botanical Gardens, where people
with leisure time went, would best serve the museum and its public 6 . The
shift of the collections to the new, very visible museum building in William

104

Street led to a predictable leap in attendance. In 1881-82, the first year
with full figures for the new building the number of visitors was 46,759.

The highest annual attendance of the century was recorded in L386
when there were 106,907 visitors. It was disappointing then, after 30
years of growth in activities and in public support, that the financial
depression and the devastating Brisbane floods in 1893 resulted in a
decline in attendance to 53,342; and, with the staff reduced to three, there-
was little that could be done to arrest the downturn 7 . There was a brief
recovery in numbers when the museum opened in the Gregory Terrace
building on New Year's day 1901— Federation Day. Getting ready for the
opening, visitors' comforts were considered— the board instructed the
director to write to the Works Department 'to provide refreshment rooms
and women's closets'*. He was also authorised to obtain some benches [or
the convenience of visitors.

On 26 January 1901 Director de Vis, reported on the opening:

Owing to favourable weather, numerous holidays and the novelty of
the attraction the attendance of visitors has exceed(ed) expectation.
8188 have been registered and it is hard to say bow many have
escaped registration. No means of preventing access to the museum
through the bush-house and corridor exist though the Works
Di paxtaienl long ago received a memorandum from the Agricultural
Department respecting the erection of a fence which would have had
the desired effect. In the same memorandum the Works Department

had brought under its notice the want of a Refreshment Room

visitors are complaining greatly that they cannot get refreshments.

On Sundays the attendance has been so large that it has been found
necessary to employ a third attendant to perambulate the rooms and
keep any unruly element in check

In the Annual Report for 1902 the board reported that work day
visitors were fewer than when the museum was in the city —'more than
half of the visitors now being registered on Sundays'. However, one of the
problems with the new accommodation was —

the want of means of obtaining refreshment even the slightest, has
been repeatedly urged upon our notice, and it has been more than
once represented by us to the departments responsible for the
neglect. We only regret that we had no power of DUrown to provide
women and children with the means of so much as quenching their
thirst.

On 30 August 1902 the board decided that the incoming tenant of the
cottage'— the carpenter J. Berry and, no doubt, Mrs Berry— would be
allowed to serve refreshments 'there being no prospect of a refreshment
room being provided*. There is no record of what was served nor for how
long this continued.

However, apparently the displays did not manage to hold the public's
attention for it was not until 1915, after Hamlyn-Harris had revitalized the
museum and had produced new displays, that the annual attendance went
up again— to 75,031 visitors, notwithstanding the effects of World War I.
Throughout the next few years there was little change in public
attendance. In 1917 the figures were 70,154 y , Through the early 1920s the
museum continued to gain popular support. By 1925 annual attendance
had arisen to 106,024 almost back to the record level of 1886 — but it was
now drawing on a much larger and more mobile population. That level of
support has not wavered and in 1985, by 3 November when the doors
closed to the public and the museum prepared for its move to South

105

Brisbane, there had been some 250,000 visitors of all ages who had come
for entertainment or for educational classes.

The attendants are the staff members that most members of the
public see when they visit the museum and they are therefore the people
who are primarly responsible for public relations in the galleries. They
have been and continue to be, for millions of visitors, the museum's hosts
and unobtrusive keepers of orders — for they administer the museum By-
Laws.

Down through the years most visitors have come to the museum to be
entertained and to learn. Just a few, apparently, did not come for that
reason. On 2 October 1883 Director de Vis reported, to the board of
trustees, the first case of dishonesty on the part of visitors —

the bronze medal commemorating the opening of Epping Forest by
Her Majesty and presented by the City of London has been stolen
from the case in which it was exhibited.

It was stolen just one month after it had been received. On 6 April
1899 it was reported to the board that a man in possession of curios from
one of the cases was arrested in the galleries but was subsequently
discharged on a point of law. Most other thefts have happened after the
public galleries were closed— the result of illegal entry. Gold specimens
were taken in December 1888 and were never recovered. Favourite
subjects for burglars have been the weapons collections— Japanese swords
were taken and were not recovered. However the museum was more
fortunate when an assortment of firearms carefully selected from the
collection storage by a discerning burglar were discovered in an auction
sale in Sydney. The museum had circulated its precise registration data on
the missing items to hobby weapons collectors, one of whom identified
them in the sale, called the Sydney CIB, and in due course they were
restored to the museum.

In the board minutes for 1 February 1895 it was reported that the
museum was frequented by prostitutes for improper purposes. The
trustees decided that persons suspected of so being should not be refused
admission or expelled unless they were guilty of offensive conduct in the
building. After the museum moved to the Exhibition building the board, in
its annual report for 1902, observed that —

By our removal from the centre to an outskirt of the city the

Museum has become less accessible to street idlers and others,

who made use of it as a convenience.

A Source of Information

In September 1871 Aplin entered into correspondence, through the
pages of the Brisbane Courier, concerning reports on possible methods of
formation of gold nuggets, over the address of the museum 10 . This subject,
fascinating to the public then, as now, may mark the beginning of the
history of the museum as a source of expert information in its areas of
authority. At about the same time, perhaps impressed by this evidence of
the services a museum could provide, a supporter, writing to the Courier
under the name 'Cosmos' put forward a series of arguments for a proper
building for the museum and for professional staffing 11 . In 1873, Staiger s
first report as custodian indicated how much his services as an analytical
chemist were in demand, assaying mineral specimens for prospectors who
were actively searching Queensland for profitable mineral fields 12 .

Back in 1881 the museum's library was advertised as being available
to students. This service appears to have arisen because of the lack of a

106

IF THEY LIVED TO-DAY!

.'■■■ Bt*Kl fj«w -i vivid ttnjvtftioU f*f the tfwi nmrwjiiaU "''••'' J*"*" rvmumi
unraNhci at Iiirfirt«,i- t ifaitinf; UtMrfcft and Ufrntifiwl t>) JUr. Wcftffr -' f>('8» WH

public reference library, so the museum was meeting a wide lange of
public needs and quite clearly was doing so capably.

When de Vis became direptffl in 8582, the board of trustees Indicated
in its annual report that the museum was helping schools of arts by
undertaking for them the preparation and naming, for exhibition, of their
collections of geological, mineralogical and zoological material. While it is
not clear how many of the schools of arts throughout Queensland sought
the museum's help in this it seems to have been the first attempt by the
museum to spread its expertise and knowledge outside Brisbane. By 1888
state schools were being supplied with collections of common minerals. In
1889 a collection of 1000 mineral specimens from mines in Queensland
were prepared for display at Dunedin in New Zealand but, for some
reason, the collection was never sent.

dc Vis, who was an active research worker, maintained contact far his
hrsl i in office with his professional colleagues m other museums

hi-m th< b ■■■ "■■"■■ tht .!■■■: m 1 1 has
■ .Liti.ri informal it*n1
the community Tt\ irtooni i pi ■■ i
i..!,-, f bad ?pme conceptual difficult^

ling tbe vert< bttfl 1 1 ma "' iUc
Darling Btntiu (cartoon fron I i ■

- Jul) 1020)

A I) IM55.

l^uecnshind Museum,

t'ettphaiK

tB°& en 'Park. [Brisbane. 315.

SYLLABUS

LECTURES

SESSION 1915.

"A Museum is a Consultative Library
uf abject), uhere people can set for
themselves the things of ulhich they have
read in books," — T. H. Huxlcu,

All Interested Cordially Invited.

Admission Free.

by correspondence. In 1891, the first number of the Annals of the
Queensland Museum was published. This was the museum's first effort to
bring its serious work to a wide international readership. The Annals
continued to No. 10 published in 1911 when, early in R. Hamlyn- Harris'
term, its title was changed to the Memoirs of the Queensland Museum with
the 1912 issue. It continues today as the museum's scientific journal and in
it appear the articles that record the work of its staff and of others working
on its collections. The journal is exchanged for other scholarly publications
from about 400 museums, universities and scientific institutions around
the world.

de Vis also pursued a very active public relations programme,
corresponding with many persons and soliciting specimens and support for
the museum. He made lengthy reports to the board at each of its monthly
meetings and the proceedings at these meetings, together with his reports,
were regularly published in the Brisbane Courier. It was a means by which
the community became aware of the activities and expertise in the
museum and it undoubtedly resulted in donations of material that
expanded the collections.

When Hamlyn-Harris became director in 1910 he embarked on a
similar public relations programme as one of his measures to revitalize the
museum. He corresponded with the general public and with professional
colleagues throughout the world. He appealed in The Queenslander for
public support for increasing the museum's collections and soon had
interested people actively collecting a range of natural history material in
various parts of the state, including Toowoomba, Woodford, Townsville and
Maryborough 13 . In an effort to further improve the collections he issued
appeals for suitable specimens by circular letter to members of local
communities, and through provincial newspapers. Members of the public
responded well and their letters — such as that from the manager of Prince
Alfred Mine, Sunnymouth, subsequent to an article in the Chillagoe
Standard, with information on an unusual lizard 14 — can be found in the
correspondence files. Hamlyn-Harris also appealed for Aboriginal artefacts
in a circular letter to the police inspectors in all police districts (see
Chapter 10).

In 1912 Hamlyn-Harris started a series of public lectures on natural
history. These were advertised through the Field Naturalists' Club, the
University of Queensland, schools and the newspapers. They were held
once a month, at first in the afternoons but from 1915 at 8.00 pm on a
Friday. They appear to have been well attended, for the museum was
allowed to use the concert hall — still leased to Brisbane City Council —
and other 'engagements of the hall (were) made to accord' with the
museum's lecture programme 15 . Various museum staff and guest lecturers
presented topics, illustrated with specimens, lantern slides and moving
films, covering biology, geology and anthropology. Heber Longman was
promoted to deputy director in 1912 and those he lectured to included the
Toowoomba Scientific and Literary Club, and Kindergarten Teachers'
College students.

Until 1911 there were no organised school excursions to the museum
but teachers from the East Brisbane State School, Kangaroo Point Girls
School, and Leichhardt Street State School arranged visits. Then, in 1912,
with agreement of the Department of Public Instruction, Hamlyn-Harris
offered a programme of talks for organised school visits. For some schools
the cost of travel prevented attendance but at least 13 schools, among
which were Ipswich North Girls School, Leichhardt Street Boys School

108

and Bowen Bridge Road School, indicated that they would be able to
attend. In 1918 the lectures to school visitors attracted 26 classes from 18
schools. Longman also gave a series of lectures at night to scouting groups,
and extramural lectures were given to interested groups. For example,
Henry Tryon, formerly assistant curator under de Vis and now
entomologist with the Department of Agriculture, spoke to students from
the Teachers' Training College on 'Food of our useful Birds'.

Hamlyn-Harris' other innovation in this period of development of the
museum's services were classes for handicapped members of the
community. He himself helped when parties of deaf children visited the
museum. It was a pattern that was to be repeated by George Mack in 1950
with weekly classes for blind children and ex-servicemen.

HA Longman was the first director to contribute a weekly natural
history column to the Brisbane Courier. It began in 1918 and was a popular
feature— and there are museum staff members today who had their
inspiration to became naturalists from this column. Much later the
distinguished naturalist David Fleay, an honorary associate of the
museum, continued these nature notes. Tom Marshall also had a weekly
fishing column in the Telegraph. Radio and television also became media
through which information could be communicated to the community.
Museum staff, between the late 1930s and 1950s, gave monthly talks on
radio and in more recent times they have been regular guest performers
on television especially in children's programmes.

Apart from its scientific journal the museum's more popular
publishing programme had a false start when, on 26 January 1901, Director
de Vis tried unsuccessfully to persuade the board that, since his own time

THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM-

POPULAR SCIENCE LECTURES.

SESSION /y/5.

The following LECTURES, illustrated 6y specimens, diagrams. 8tc, Will be
?/ifen in the Exhibition Hall (next to the Qyeensland Museum! as follows

Friday Afttmoon, at 3'30 p.m., APRIL 30th—

" Native L'/e in the New Hebrides, "

tft DOUGLAS rt/f/V.VH

Fndpy Earning, at 8 p.m., AUGUST 27th

Customs of I'ariou* Races "

f'urt I Family Life.

, tltuttraled u-llti l.iinttm Virm, )

Friday Afternoon, at 330 p.m , MAY 26th

" Some Remarlfiblt Queensland Fhhc-

Mt H A LQ ..: i

\SpecimtHt Jcmuml'vttJ by Mr, J DougLn ' '■ ''

Friday Earning, at 8 p.m.. JUNE 25lh-

" iHitds and Hornet!:.

fllluitrat'd With LilMtrn View.)

P i tfitRLtY

Or F HAMLYS-.HARMS

Frtdv f Event*-, at K p.m., SEPTEMBER 24th-

"Customs o/ I'ariout Race;

art II - 'Sochi Life,

lltuilMltd UHttl Lmntrrn Tit-m., 1

Dl H mRPIS

Fnduy Evening, at 8 p.

OCTOBER 29th-

" The Great Barrier Reef."

i illutttaled uilh Lantet < I t M.J

M» F. BACE. Af 5c.

Friday Earning, at 8 p.m-. JULY 30th—

Kjfc L'/e m the Sea."

(Wuitntttd With L.mlcrn l-'tewi.)

D,. J HARVEY JOIt:

Friday Evening, at 8 /..m.. SOVEMBER 26th

"Extinct Animuh."

(tUuihttUd wttf\ Lantern MWw J

Mr H. A. LONGMAN

The 1915 programme of a popular series
of lectures that Hamlyn-Harris gave
each year from 1912 to 1916. They were
held in the concert hall of the Exhibition
building.

109

was best spent writing descriptive labels to 'improve the utility of the
displays', it should employ some 'literary man' to write a guide to the
museum. Much later, in 1939, a Miss H. Nowland was appointed for three
months to write a handbook but this does not seem to have got far. With
the exception of George Mack's booklet on the Centenary of Queensland
and a small handbook on the Great Barrier Reef ib , publishing of handbooks
began in the museum only after 1970 when the series Queensland Museum
Booklets began. The series now includes works on a diversity of subjects,
such as The Middle Kingdom: Pre-revolutionaty China, Eucatypts of the
Brisbane, The Mud Crab and Queensland in the 1860s: The Photography of
Richard Daintree.

However, despite the organised programmes of talks, publications,
newspaper articles and television and radio appearances, the most
appreciated service performed by the museum may be the information
that it gives in response to specific questions put to it. The earliest records
of this activity are available for 1876*when the first board of trustees began
keeping letter files. These reveal that even at that stage the public was
referring to the museum a wide range of natural history inquiries,
particularly regarding identification of specimens.

This has continued to the present day— every week the museum
responds to hundreds of letters, telephone calls and visitors requesting
information. The queries come from members of the public and from
institutions, including universities and government departments such as
Customs and Excise, Primary Industries and National Parks and Wildlife
Service. Possibly the greatest range of inquiries come to the history and
technology section. In natural history snakes and spiders are most often
the subject of inquiries but, as well, information on birds, molluscs, fish,
jellyfish, mammals, other reptiles, insects, crustaceans and fossils is
sought. For some of the questions most frequently asked free leaflets
provide the essential information. As an extension of this service, museum
experts provide information and specimen identifications, especially of
snakes and spiders, for the Poisons Information Centre at the Royal
Brisbane Hospital, other hospitals, medical practioners and ambulance
officers throughout the state and at all hours. Valerie Davies curator of
arachnology from 1972, and Jeanette Covacevich, curator of reptiles from

110

1966 contributed chapters to the standard handbook on Queensland toxic

organisms 17 .

An Education Extension Service

Apart from Hamlyn-Harris' efforts to develop museum programmes
for visiting schools there was not any formal extension service from the
museum, although it would have been welcomed by the Education
Department, until January 1938. Then an opportunity to develop extension
programmes occurred when the museum received a Carnegie Trust grant
of £1000 for a two-year programme:

to visit the Primary Schools of the metropolitan area for the purpose
of developing the educational services of the Museum, of arousing in
the children a desire for more information about the world around
them, and of placing before pupils and the public generally the
merits of the Museum and the advantages which would accrue from
a close study of the exhibits housed therein w .

W.F. Bevington conducted a museum
extension programme funded by the
Carnegie Trust. Opposite page; Bevington
with a class of children from the East
Brisbane State School; this page: an
enthusiastic response from the class
(photographs from the Brisbane Telegraph
10 February 1938).

The terms of reference were soon expanded beyond state primary
schools to secondary and private schools.

W.F. Bevington and A.G, Davies were appointed liaison officers to
conduct the programme. Bevington had retired from the position of
district inspector of schools the previous year at the age of 65. Presumably
Davies did participate in the programme — however his contribution
appears to have been eclipsed by Bevington's. The Telegraph reported on 1
July 1939 that Bevington had lectured to more than 100,000 students
during 1938 and referred to him as 'Brisbane Museum's Father Christmas'.
As well as visiting the schools, Bevington devoted Fridays to working with
groups which visited the museum. As a follow-up, these children were
often required to give short lectures and write essays on subjects studied
during their visits. Bevington also promoted the Queensland Nature
Lovers' League which operated clubs in many schools to encourage
children to care for animals and protect native flora. W.F. Bevington issued
many hundreds of membership certificates for the League.

It is clear that Longman cooperated with the programme— he wrote
in 1939;

111

I shall be very pleased to welcome a party i>f your boys (Young
Australia League) at the Queensland Museum on the Sunday of

Exhibition week at 3 p.m , as on several previous occasions We

hope to be able to welcome the party of girls also, on Saturday,
August 12 and perhaps Mr Bevington will be available on that
occasion u .

As well as his direct contacts with the children Bevington advised
teachers on the teaching of natural history and the preparation and use of
charts and specimens. In his annual report for 1939 he mentioned the
possibility of establishing a teachers' museum and assembling a teaching

collection:

The wide choice (of species) proVftS rather bewildering to the

average teacher Could he but have a collection arranged by

scientific men he would have much more confidence and then be

likely to make a success of this branch of his work

It is not clear when Bevington finished at the museum. The last
record of any activity was on 21 June 1940 and he had certainly left by
March 194 P. He died, aged 72, in Brisbane in January 1944 after a brief
illness. The education programme he had developed did not continue until
nearly 30 years later when a permanent education officer was appointed to
the museum staff and a teacher, seconded from the Education
Department, carried museum programmes into the state primary schools
in country areas.

Some school programmes continued in the museum, however. George
Mack, who became director in 1945, instituted a series of lectures during
the 1950s that were given in front of certain displays for visiting schools.
The enthusiastic public response to these talks led to the development of
questionnaires for children to answer in the display galleries. Showcases
were numbered to link them to specific questions. After 30 minutes a bell
was rung and children brought their questionnaires to the foyer for
checking by assistants such as Shirley Gunn and Shirley Billing (nee
Deller). However, by far the most important of his innovations were the
holiday programmes. In the school holidays of January 1952 three weeks of
talks, films and question time were first presented by Mack to over 3000
adults and children.

One idea of Bevington 's that was not so long in being put into practice
was that of having collections for schools arranged by museum scientific
staff. The museum had always lent material— duplicate or non-type
material — to institutions, exhibitions and individuals for teaching or other
educational purposes. However, in 1948 a formal loan scheme for schools
began when two collections of named natural history specimens were
assembled for classroom use; at first for student-teachers, but later for
classroom use by teachers. In the early 1950s the Department of Public
Works (at Ipswich) manufactured a number of wooden boxes for loan-kits.
By 1965 there were almost 1000 requests for loan kits and the scheme
continues to this day.

Another programme to help teachers was developed during the 1950s
when week-long refresher courses in natural history were presented to
groups of up to 30 teachers. The government provided free rail passes to
encourage teachers throughout the state to attend.

An Education Section

John C. Hodge was the first museum education officer. He was
appointed in 1967 and was the only education officer for five years until
F.D. Dale joined him in 1972. Before Hodge left in 1975, to become lecturer

112

^ -..u

George Mack with children (photograph
by courtesy the Brisbane Telegraph).

Shirley Gunn demonstrating a specimen
of Cnironex fleckeri — the lethal Box
Jellyfish (photograph from the Courier
Mail 21 December 1954).

Sir Henry Abel Smith (second from left).
governor of Queensland, was keenly
interested in birds, and organised this
field trip to Girraween National Park in
1965. With him (L to R) are William
Goebel naturalist, local property owner,
and friend and donor to the museum;
ornithologist Hugh Innes; and Don
Vernon. In the rock cleft is the nest of
the Superb Lyre Bird (photograph by
courtesy the Courier Mail).

113

John Hodge, museum education officer,
with a school class in the early 1970s.

A touch specimen— the Barn Owl, Tyto
albus.

in museum studies at Sydney University, he had established the education
section and had developed a comprehensive programme of activities based
on the museum's expertise in the areas of its responsibilities, and backed
up by its collections of objects.

When first appointed Hodge saw the education section as functioning
not only to assist visiting groups and lend specimens to schools, but also
giving:

advice and assistance on identification, preparation, preservation and
display of biological materials for school museums. We are also
concerned with evaluating current popular literature and biological
supplies 22 .

He was contemplating the further development of Bevington's ideas
for the production of loan kits consisting of:

a box which will contain specimens, black and white pictures, film
loops, Kodachromes, work sheets and tape recordings would appear
to be ideal. For example we could do one on the Barrier Reef, or
Rocky Shore Animals or Aboriginal Culture etc. etc. 22 .

In 1971 Hodge received a Churchill Fellowship for travel overseas to
study museum education. He visited a large number— 73 in all— of
museums, both large and small, in Canada, the USA, Great Britain and
Europe during the period 14 May to 21 October 197L In his report he
recommended, among other things, that short in-service courses for
teachers— which had been regularly offered in the 1950s under Director
Mack — be re-introduced; that teacher trainees be instructed in the use of
museum resources and services; that the museum support research into
education by its staff; that a comprehensive school loan service be
developed; and that a sales outlet be established in the museum. Only the
last recommendation was put into practice soon after and the museum
now retails publications that have been assessed by its curatorial staff.

The loan materials at the time Hodge made his report consisted of
mounted animal specimens in boxes. Supporting literature or other
material was not provided. Schools could borrow two of the thirty kits for
one week. The museum paid the freight to the school and the school was
expected to pay the return freight. Because funds were not forthcoming to
expand the scheme to any great extent Hodge did not advertise the loan
kits. Eventually, in 1984 long after Hodge had left, two technicians were
appointed under the Commonwealth Employment Programme to develop
and produce new kits.

However, Hodge did promote the school programmes that were
conducted at the museum. Actually, the scarcity of good natural history
films for public programmes had prompted staff as early as 1953 to begin
making their own, and an effort was made then to film every live specimen
brought to the museum. Hodge developed this idea further and
audiovisuals on a range of subjects were produced to form the basis of the
school programmes.

From February 1973 it was his policy to offer set programmes each
term 23 . In 1973 eight were being offered to visiting schools and a ninth,
Australian Transport, was being prepared. Programmes offered in 1974
included Human Ecology, which provided a choice of two activities
following the audiovisual — either a board game played by four teams of
students, simulating man's various impacts on his environment, or a mock
court trial concerned with sandmining at Cooloola.

In June 1974 Hodge obtained, from the Department of Education, a
colour video recorder and monitor for in-service training programmes and

114

for educational purposes associated with school and teacher trainee visits.
He also used these for new audiovisual programmes: Pioneer Life and the
Coral Reef Ecosystem. The latter used four slide projectors and a 16 mm
movie sequence, and was supported by a display of a variety of reef
animals. The Pioneer Life programme featured a short drama written by a
producer of ABC schools broadcasts, Jill Morris, which the children acted
after seeing a 20 minute audio-visual about early white settlement in
Australia. In 1975 three more audiovisual programmes were made,
forming the basis of structured presentations to school groups visiting the
museum. The topics were What's at the Museum? —a brief general
introduction to the function and history of the museum, designed for
grades 3 to 7; The Aborigines: An Appreciation of the Difference — on the
culture of Australian Aborigines and their relations with more recent
immigrants, for grades 6 to 10; and Australian Animals — a survey of
Australia's fauna for grades 3 to 6. The first programme was screened to
the public during the August school vacation of 1975, before being used for
school visits. These presentations lasted about one hour and included a
'touch' display of museum specimens and artefacts, and were followed by
the students completing worksheets. In 1976 production was underway on
a programme about the collection and interpretation of fossils. This
featured the work of Michael Archer, then curator of mammals, studying
fossil remains of the carnivorous marsupial, Thylacoleo, found near Alice
Springs.

It has always been the policy of education staff to emphasise the use
of the public displays by students who visit the museum: The primary
interest of any museum is its displays. Our educational activities revolve
around the displays, and no group leaves without seeing some of them' 24 .
Education officer Dale stated then that special classes or worksheets could
be arranged for groups such as handicapped children and tertiary
students 24 , but the limited staff and facilities often made it difficult to meet
such special requirements.

Children examine the fossil skeleton of a
diprotodon, 1975.

115

it* 1 *.

jp- n

it*

A school class pays a visit to the
museum.

The education extension service brings
the museum to schools as far away as
western Queensland. Here children help
education extension officer Peter Webber
repack the museum van after a visit to
their school.

Holiday programmes, recalling those first introduced by Mack in the
1960s, were also presented. The first of a new style was offered in January
1972. It was restricted to 12 year old children, who were invited to spend
five mornings studying the history of paper manufacture and paper's uses
including microscopic examination and specialist demonstrations. Children
learnt to make paper by hand and visited the Australian Paper Mills works
at Petrie. A holiday programme about fossils and dinosaurs was run in
January 1977. As part of the week-long activities children constructed a
cardboard dinosaur nearly 3 metres long. During the next few years
holiday programmes offered the same activity each day for a week so that
more children could take part. Topics included making aboriginal-style
wood and shell implements, kite making, fence painting, gum-bichromate
printing, and painting and drawing from gallery exhibits. Film programmes
and story telling also attracted large audiences though the present
education staff have tended to avoid activities, such as film screenings,
that, unless closely related to museum displays, can more appropriately be
presented by other institutions.

Although many schools in the metropolitan area were using loan kits
and bringing their classes to the museum those further afield could not.
Therefore, in 1978, the director had discussions with the Education
Department — of which the museum was then a part — about the
reintroduction of an extension service. It was agreed that the department
would provide staff to operate such a service, taking the museum —
specimens, audio- visual programmes and activities— to country schools,
chiefly those in southeast Queensland which could not visit the museum
because of the transport costs and time. The museum provided the vehicle
and all the teaching materials. The first extension education officer,
Douglas J. Pauli, appointed in September 1978, had wide experience in
innovation within the department as a science advisory teacher. In his
three year term he devised a range of programmes similar to those offered
at the museum itself but specially adapted to suit students in the
classroom. Pauli completed his term at the end of 1980 and was succeeded
by Greg Storey who, after a two-year term, was replaced by Peter Webber.
Apart from its primary role— that is the use of museum resources to
supplement school programmes— the extension service has promoted the
museum in country areas by providing displays at country shows and
provincial shopping centres, and frequently attracting the attention of the
local media. The man from the museum' has become a recognised
celebrity again, harking back to the days of Bevington.

The teaching of Aboriginal culture in schools and the contribution
museums can make to this has been a particular interest for Roger
Hardley in the Australian ethnography section. To this end he forged links
with those colleges of advanced education which train teachers, and he
worked in close co-operation with the museum's education section,
particularly with the extension education service.

Turning its attention to older students, the museum participated in
the work experience programmes that were introduced into some
Brisbane high schools in the mid 1970s. Since 1978 the museum has
provided opportunities for senior high school students to spend one or two
weeks working in various sections as museum assistants. Because of its
diversity of activities the museum could offer an extensive choice of work-
experience in scientific, educational, art, preparation and clerical sections.
In some instances these students have made useful contributions to the
museum's operations, and many have subsequently returned as volunteers

116

School holiday dinosaur project, 1982.
Rhonda Scoullar, education officer (on
left).

Items purchased with funds from the
Utah Foundation are featured at an open
day in 1981. With the pennyfarthing
bicycle is D.J. Robinson, curator of
history and technology.

117

during their vacations. Several members of staff were introduced to
museum work initially through the work-experience programme.

Now, in 1986, the new facilities at South Brisbane will make it
possible for the education section to further expand its activities and offer
programmes that supplement those in the schools and provide teachers
and students alike with a range of stimulating material.

Museum publications on sale at its
bookshop in 1984.

Margaret Oakden, staff artist 1972-80
who prepared the series of mammal
prints marketed by the museum from
1973.

118

Entrance Foyer-Bookshop, Queensland
Museum 1984.

119

Previous page: The main street of Gympie
mining town, 1868.

The Reverend George Wight, in an address to the Queensland
Philosophical Society on 18 May 1867, suggested that 'the
appointment of a practical geologist* would be 'the best, the
cheapest, and speediest means of guiding and aiding the
development of the vast natural resources of Queensland' \
During the decade up to 1867 there had been gold finds in
Queensland, drawing new settlers to the colony, increasing its
populations and bringing dreams of wealth. Then, in September
1867, alluvial gold was found at Cape River and the rich find at
Gympie came soon afterwards.

On 9 January 1869 the Legislative Assembly debated, and carried, the
following resolutions:

1 That the speedy development of the mineral wealth of the colony
is a matter of the greatest importance and ought to engage the
serious attention of the government.

2 That, in the opinion of this House it would be wise to engage
qualified persons who shall devote their services to the above
object.

3 That an address be transmitted to the Administration of the
Government praying that His Excellency will be pleased to cause
the necessary steps to be taken to carry out these steps 2 .

So, in 1868 the Queensland government responded to Wight's
suggestion and appointed two government geologists, Richard Daintree for
northern Queensland and Christopher D'Oyly Hale Aplin for southern
Queensland. The appointments were seen officially, and no doubt
unofficially too, as being practical in nature— the geologists being expected
to find workable mineral deposits that would boost state development and
finances, rather than to investigate the regional geology of Queensland.
This view of the practical and economic use of mineralogy would continue
to dominate the development of the Queensland Museum's collections.

The appointees to the government positions were both experienced
geologists, Daintree had left the Victorian Geological Survey in 1864 to
pursue mining and pastoral activities in northern Queensland. Aplin had
originally emigrated to Australia in 1842 but had returned to England and
studied geology there. In 1852 he had come back to Australia and with his
brother had gone to the Victorian goldfields. In 1856 he joined the Victorian
Geological Survey until he came to Queensland. He was then 49 \

The work that Daintree and Aplin did was essentially preliminary but
the government was disappointed that there were no immediate and
dramatic results and the survey was terminated at the end of 1869 2 . Aplin
moved to Maryborough and bought a sugar plantation. Daintree continued
his field-work until, in 1871, he went to London to arrange Queensland's
contribution to the London Exhibition in that year and while there became
the Queensland agent-general 3 .

Minerals for Miners

In the debate in the Legislative Assembly on 17 June 1869 that followed
the termination of the geological surveys, the proposition was put that —

it is desirable to establish, in Brisbane, a museum and

laboratory for the purposes of collecting and exhibiting and

analysing, when required, all minerals, forwarded to the institution 2 .

The purpose of the museum would be to—

incubate a love for information upon the subject of our own

resources, and interest the people in these subjects, which were

of the greatest advantage to the colony 2 .

122

The speaker— the member for Maryborough, W.H. Walsh, who
became secretary for Public Works in 1872-3— drew attention to the
benefits that New Zealand had derived from its Colonial Museum.
Members enthusiastically supported the museum proposal and D'Oyly
Aplin's name was mentioned in connection with it. It was not until 1870
that £100 was set aside to establish the museum. In the same session there
was a resolution to spend £1000 on 'Specimens of Gold and Auriferous
Quartz from the Queensland Gold Fields to be sent to the Exhibition in
London' 4 — no doubt to advertise the colony.

On 1 June 1871 D'Oyly Aplin, having heard of the vote of £100 to set
up the mineralogical museum, wrote to the minister of Public Works
offering to undertake the work and his offer was accepted. He completed
the job by 6 September 1871 but had spent most of the £100 on materials 5 .
On requesting payment for his work, he was instructed to hand the
collections to Charles Coxen, the honorary curator of the museum (see
Chapters 3, 4). Aplin was never paid 2 . Although he later received a
government appointment, as police magistrate in charge of the settlement
at Somerset near Cape York, it was not until September 1874 \

At the beginning of 1873 K.T. Staiger was appointed as custodian of
the museum and government analytical chemist, a combination of duties
that may have given rise to the view that the museum 'emanated noxious
gases' 6 . Certainly the combination reflected the practical situation seen as
existing between mineral collections, the economic value of minerals and
assistance to prospectors for much of Staiger's chemical work was mineral
assaying. He took over the two small rooms in the old Parliamentary
building in which the museum was then housed, but soon obtained the use
of rooms in the nearby old Post Office building 7 . A mineral display was
set up in one and Staiger used the other room for his assay work. Richard
Daintree, then agent general for Queensland in London, corresponded
with Staiger concerning the presentation of the mineral collection,
recommending the arrangement of specimens and photographs previously
used by him in various international exhibitions, and stressing the
practical economic significance of the displays 8 . To do as Daintree
suggested Staiger needed yet more space, but when he got it it rapidly
filled with general museum collections and Daintree 's plans for geological
displays of Queensland were never realised.

Minerals for a Museum

The mineral collections under Staiger's care were not very large and
attempts were made to increase them by donation, by exchange and by
purchase. In May 1878 the collections consisted only of 300 specimens, of
which 150 represented material apparently obtained through exchange
with the Italian government. The Italian collection was claimed by
Nehemiah Bartley who was a wealthy land-owner— his property included
what is now known as Bartley 's Hill, a suburban look-out on the outskirts
of Brisbane. Bartley had set up a private mineralogical collection which he
had tried to sell to the government in 1874 9 . He had had some
correspondence with the museum board regarding sales of specimens —
which the board had thought were donations. The board had returned the
specimens immediately 10 . Apparently Bartley assumed that this collection
from the Italian government was in exchange for specimens he had sent.
After considerable discussion, settlement was reached by allowing him to
take 50 specimens 11 . Even though the museum collection of minerals was
so small the board, on 7 March 1876, agreed to send mineral specimens to
Oakey Primary school

Richard Daintree, government geologist
for north Queensland 1868-71

123

With the move to the William Street building there was more space
and a better presentation of the minerals and rocks was possible. They
were displayed on the ground floor of the building and were classified by
chemical composition, locality and economic use. However, the collections

Still very small. Accordingly, a more active policy of increasing the
mineral collections by exchange with organisations and individuals was
instituted in 1880 by the curator. W.A. Haswell. This was not altogether
satisfactory, and a geological collector, Alex Macpherson, was appointed in
1881. However, Kendall Broadbent, a zoological collector of outstanding
merit was available fat appointment and in May 1883 the new curator, de
Vis, created a vacancy for Broadbent by malting Macpherson an attendant
(see Chapter 3). In November 1883 de Vis observed to the board that the
mineral collections were being neglected. An approach was made to the
Mines Department requesting gold wardens and other officers to be
instructed to forward mineral specimens, particularly of ore minerals, to
the museum— but there was not a marked response 12 . Then, there having
been a fire in the Australian Museum, the trustees, on 3 December 1882,
offered duplicates from the Queensland Museum to help *the parent

lj in recuperation of its loss". The offer was accepted.

Larly in 1884 a direct method of adding to the mineral collections was
instituted by again appointing a geological collector— H.F. Wallmann. His
detailed list of dul ies included geological mapping as well as collecting 11
Wallmann collected minerals, rocks and fossils in the Sandgale. Stanthorpe
and Gympie areas and began a geological investigation of The Gympie
Goldfield. However, the board commented on his travelling expenses and
expressed dissatisfaction with the paucity of results. Wallmann resigned
early in 1885 w . He did not part on good terms with the board. There was a
b tophet D'Oyiy Aplin. government difference regarding maps and reports that the board at first insisted were

ist for south Queensland !86«-6y. museum property 11 "'. However, this problem appears to have been resolved

and the papers were returned to Wallman. He appears to have maintained
a regard for the museum for he continued to donate specimens. Not so
the trustees, who would not even consider reappointing him on the two
occasions he applied, and also refused to lend him specimens.

During 1885 the museum was represented on. and was involved with
assistance to. the Commission in Queensland of the Colonial and Indian
Exhibition, to be held in London in 1S86. /VW. Clarke, later to be the
government mineralogical lecturer, was appointed by the Commission to
Colled Queensland specimens, for, as Clarke pointed out in his preface to
the mineralogical catalogue for the exhibition 'the colony has as yet no
mineralogical department or collection to draw on for display on these
occasions', This was both a reflection on the museum's collections and of
board policy to allow only duplicate specimens out of the museum 1 *'. Some
1400 specimens, all with a strong economic bias, were collected for display
at the exhibition.

Early in 1886 steps were taken to fill the vacant position of museum
geological collector and E.B. Lindon, an associate of The Royal School of
Mines, London, was appointed in May. Unfortunately, adequate provision
was not made in the estimates for a travelling allowance and Lindon was
largely restricted Co office work and maintenance of collections. Perhaps
fortunately, de Vis had made provision for the purchase of a polarising
microscope Lindon made only one trip— to Glenlyon to examine the caves
and reported that frequent flooding had prevented deposition of fossil
material ,7 . Lindon's main contribution in the short time he was at the
museum was the preparation of a catalogue of Queensland minerals and

124

localities, He resigned in the middle of 1887 and was shortly after replaced
as geological collector by Henry Hurst who had earlier offered to perform.
on trial without salary, the duties of clerk and librarian :H Hurst began
collecting, largely fossils, on the Darling Downs. During 1888 he was
involved with the preparation of mineral specimens (or the Queensland
Court at the Centennial Exhibition in Melbourne and he travelled there
to arrange the display 19 . Afterwards a considerable part of the material
donated for this exhibition came to the museum.

The records of museum board meetings during 1888 suggest that
views of the practical use of mineral collections were still predominant
The educational use of the collections was recognized in the supply of
material for teaching purposes tu a number of schools'. The need for a
laboratory for analysis Of specimens and practical assistance was again
noted. At the end of 1888 must of the gold specimens were stolen from the
museum's mineralogical displays- 1 and the loss was never overcome. The
curator's report to the February 1889 board meeting assigns a higher than
usual priority to the mineral collections. Due to lack of space, or the return
of the specimens from the Centennial Exhibition in Melbourne, de Vis
proposed removal of most of the contents of the zoological cases on the
ground floor to make way for minerals-.

In the 1890s drought, depressed economic conditions and industrial
troubles had an influence on the museum and its staff and all its activities
were reduced, 1891 was a particularly bad year— silverfish were defacing
the labels in the mineral cases and Hurst, the collector, was dismissed at
the end of the year. He never had inspired the board's confidence,
although de Vis usually appears to have supported him. In the end he
'abandoned his position', disappeared from Brisbane 'and was dismissed' 1 ",

In April 1892 Hurst was replaced by H.G. Stokes with the title of
mineralogica! assistant. Stokes had been donating and exchanging
specimens with the museum over several years. A condition of his
employment w r as that he should perform assays of mineral specimens
required by the Mines Department and apparatus and chemicals were
to be obtained 31 . At last a chemical laboratory had been re-established.
Stokes' work was largely in the office, testing and reporting on
prospectors' samples. lie was also involved with a number of exchanges
with overseas organizations. However, in June 1893, with the reduction of
the staff to three and the office boy, he was retrenched-'.

Even under these conditions, there was still some activity with
the mineral collections. Collections were prepared for exhibitions and
specimens were received by purchase, exchange and donation. As a
continuation of its educational service, a mineral collection was provided
for the South Brisbane School of Arts in 1894 w . while in 1897 the museum
loaned mineral specimens to the government geologist for display at
Queensland's International Exhibition 1 ' 7 . Perhaps the brightest point in this
difficult decade w T as the move in 1899 to the Exhibition building. At the
time there was a proposal that the Geological Survey of Queensland
should occupy the same building. However, each organisation felt that
there was insufficient space even for its own need, and the proposal was
not taken any further'* 1

A Museum Mineral Collection

Early in 1900, with the installation of the museum in the Exhibition
building under way, J A Smith was employed to prepare the mineral
exhibits. He is described as mineralogist and later as assistant in the
industrial department. He resigned from August 1902, and was followed

125

■b

by J. Lamb — originally appointed as 'packer' for the move to the new
location — who was a painter by trade 29,30 . Discussions were held with
B. Dunstan, acting government geologist, about the possible transfer of
Geological Survey collections to the museum but no arrangements were
made at the time 31 . The Geological Survey collection was to come to the
museum in 1979.

With the appointment of R. Hamlyn-Harris as director in 19 IX there
seems to have been more activity as far as the mineralogical collections
were concerned. A new mineral register was begun and older material
recatalogued. Hamlyn-Harris actively sought geological material from
mines departments in other states. The museum supplied duplicate
geological specimens to the University of Queensland then being set up 32 .

After this there seems to have followed a long period when the
mineral collection was more or less neglected. Staff from the geology
department of the University of Queensland, particularly H.C. Richards,
had an association with the museum in an honorary capacity 33 . In 1949
J.T. Woods was appointed to the newly established position of curator of
geology. This position naturally involved responsibility for the
mineral collections, although he, and following appointees to
this position, have been primarily palaeontologists. Woods
was followed by A. Bartholomai (1959), P. Jell (1969),
and M. Wade (1971). In 1975 responsibility for the

collections was transferred to the newly appointed
I curator of industrial technology — I.G. Sanker—
on the premise that minerals are obtained
from mining activities and so are
products of industrial technology.

this;
|

126

Over the last 30 years the size of the registered collections has
increased from 1800 in 1948 to approximately 14,000 in 1986. This has
come about by the transfer of some 4000 specimens from the Geological
Survey collections, by field collecting, by donations and purchases and by
cataloguing of previously unregistered material. The federal government's
Taxation Incentives for the Arts Scheme, instituted in 1978 to encourage
donations to museums and similar institutions, resulted in the donation to
the museum of extensive and valuable opal collections as well as mineral
specimens.

The museum's mineralogy collection is reasonably substantial in size
and contains specimens of good quality and historical significance —
collected by prominent geologists or from long abandoned mines. At this
stage it is not an altogether comprehensive collection. It reflects the fact
that it has never had the sustained attention of an appropriately qualified
curator— a staff mineralogist— whose studies could identify the gaps in
the collection and who could make it a complete archive of the mineralogy
of the state. Although, in the early days, there was indeed great interest, it
was a practical rather than scientific interest and many important minerals
were not collected. Since then there have been attempts to increase
holdings and to have technically qualified staff appointed and this did
happen on several occasions. However, there were reasons — usually
economic— why they never stayed long, and over most of its history the
mineralogy collection has been treated passively— cared for, but seldom
systematically developed and never the subject of scientific investigation.
Thus, while some research on the collections has been carried out by
outside research workers, there has not been a qualified and interested
mineralogist on the museum staff and no research is being done within
the museum.

y* *.*-% ■*

A photograph, possibly of his colleague
explorer William Harm— taken by
Richard Daintree at the Clarke River,
northern Queensland.

127

jut

* ■

•>7L1,- ^V

./*"■

, ' f *

^ ^2

■>

THE
RECORD
IN THE
ROCKS

Geology

WW,

The young Patrick Leslie, one of the first
setJ l^rs qo the Darling Downs.

Ptwivus page: Fossil fish Pachyrhimius
ffWatkonensis from the- Cretaceous
AJhian. Boree Park Station near
Richmond. The type is in the museum.

A number of the early settlers who moved into the Darling
Downs in 1841 were interested in their natural surroundings.
Unlike many of the later immigrants they did not see the land
merely as the source of affluence. Life could not have been
easy, nevertheless they found the time to collect and to
consider and discuss the significance of the specimens they found.
Amongst the things that excited these settlers were giant marsupial bones.
which the Aboriginal people knew to be those of the Gyedarra that had
grazed around the water holes in the days of their forefathers. These
bones were soon recognised as the remains of long extinct diprotodons.
They are a link between the scientific culture of the newcomers and the
folklore of the Aboriginal inhabitants of the land 1-3 .

From 1859, with the founding of the Queensland Philosophical
Society, we can glimpse through the pages of its Transactions, the group of
naturalists that had gathered together in these early, formative years of
the state. We can see the signs that the society was active and successful
and that, from the earliest days, there were men and women to foster the
science of geology, especially palaeontology'. Later, the search for
minerals stimulated the government to an interest in geology and more
fossils were found by professional geologists. However, mainly it was the
collections made by the early settlers between 1840 and 1900 that engaged
the attention of a succession of curators for whom the study of vertebrate
palaeontology became a life-work, and that eventually made the Queenland
Museum the home of vertebrate palaeontology in the state.

The Philosophical Society

Charles Coxen, an outstanding man in the early history of the state
and a key figure in the founding of the Philosophical Society and the
museum, was one of those early settlers \ Relatives of his, Patrick Leslie
and his brothers, first settled the Darling Downs in 1840 and Coxen
followed them from New South Wales soon after" 7 . He and his wife.
Elizabeth (Fanny), were among the 15 or so settlers who discovered
unusual bones on their properties. Frederick Isaac at Kings Creek, George
King of Clifton, and R, Turner and Henry Hughes, were doing the same
thing on their new properties 7 . In 1842 colonial surveyor-general Sir
Thomas Mitchell and C. Nicholson reported the first fossils to come out of
Queensland 1 - 8 . Others, including the few official surveyors and professional
naturalists, such as Ludwig Leichhardt, the Reverend William Branwhite
Clarke, Samuel Stutchbury, and Dr George Bennett all made their way
through the Darling Downs in the 1840s and 1850s acquiring fossil
marsupial bones and other geological specimens enroute *-*. Most of the
bones and other fossils found in this early period were sent either to
Sydney to the budding Australian Museum, or to London to Richard
Owen, the doyen of British Victorian palaeontology. Many, however, must
have been kept at home, proudly dispiayed.k or given to visitors. Some
were undoubtedly given to the Philosophical Society — especially after it
had founded its museum. In its first report in 1862 to society appealed to
colonists far specimens and acknowledged the receipt of fossils from J.K.
Wilson of Fitzroy Downs te .

The Mineral Boom

From the early trips of Commander Logan of the Moreton Bay Penal
Colony, coal seams and fossiliferous limestone had turned up at Ipswich,
and interest in the geology of the area had been aroused. By 1856 J.S,
Wilson, geologist with the Northern Australian Expedition, had presented

130

a note on the geology of Brisbane to the Geological Society of London ".
Quite a few ol the members of the Philosophical Society, including
Gregory and Tiffin, had given papers on geology. Coxen, though not a
geologist, presented a paper for J.K. Wilson On the Geology of Western
Queensland. They all recognised the need for professional geologists to
survey the wealth of their colony and to investigate the content and age of
thfi rocks as potential sources of minerals. In 1859 the newly appointed
Queensland government employed its first surveyor-general, A.C
Gregory 12 . He, joined later by an assistant George Phillips, began the
arduous task of understanding the geological structure of the state.
Expeditions were moving north all through the next decade, bringing
back rocks and fossils.

On 18 May 1867 the Reverend George Wight delivered an influential
address to the Philosophical Society which was reprinted in the
Queensland Daily Guardian™. He called attention to the pressing need for
the appointment of a full-time government geologist; such a person was
needed 'to guide ;ind aid the development of the vast resources of
Queensland' by 'the best, cheapest, and speediest means' Richard
Daintree, who had visited Queensland during his leave from the Victorian
Geological Survey in 1863, was appointed to the position of government
geologist for north Queensland in 1868 w . Daintree was one of the first
geologists to make regular use of photography during field work— one of
the many images he has left us is that of the giant fossil marsupial bones
at Maryvale. In 1869 he sent specimens and photographs, via Minister for
Works C.S. Mein, to the Philosophical Society museum. Attempts were
also made by society members to influence government to carry out
extensive fossil collecting surveys but to no avail -

By the mid-1860s a veritable mineral boom was on in Queensland
which led to the need for both a better understanding of the geology and a
general increase in geological education. The staff of the Geological Survey
w 7 as increased to two in late 1868 when Christopher D'Oyly Hale Apltn
became government geologist for south Queensland. His field notebooks of
1869-1870 are housed in the museum. A pencilled note for January 1870
tells us that he placed his collections 'in the hall of the Philosophical
Society in trust for the National Museum collection whenever such a
museum is established'— the Queensland Museum is often referred to as
the 'National Museum in its early annual reports 18 . Woods used the
Thylacoleo specimens collected by Aplm in his review of this genus 1 L ".
D'Oyly Aplin collected around the Downs and in the Stanthorpe region
and his new assistant, T.R. Hacket, collected around Gympie.

At the end of 1869 there was opposition to the use and costs of the
geological survey, and Aplin's job as government geologist for south
Queensland came to an abrupt end the following year. Howevei, I he
Queensland government had finally decided to establish a mineralogical
museum in the Parliamentary building, and in 1871 he was given the task
of making a first catalogue of and arranging the minerals and fossils
belonging to the government, which included his own and his assistant's
collections (see Chapters 2, 3. 4). He completed the job in September 1871
but failed even to get adequate remuneration for his amnion of the
collection. He finally retreated to north Queensland, and to relative
obscurity as a police magistrate Lq . Daintree also left his post as
government geological surveyor for north Queensland in 1871 to become
Commissioner for Queensland mineral exhibits in London, going on to
become the colony's agent general there.

Sir Thomas Mitchell, colonial survwor-
general. who rtportisrt tl
ml of Queensland.

£xp|i*r»"T Un.lwig Leichhardl, who

1 1 41' v ted fossils on the Darling Down's in

IMA while preparing for his expeditions.

131

Sheep on the Darling Downs— an early
drawing (photographic copy from the
museum's negative files).

Bartholomai examining the banks of
King's Creek near Clifton Station on the
Darling Downs in 1962. Here, in the early
1840s, George King was finding fossil
bones of diprotodons.

The Early Museum Collections

Coxen, the first official curator of the Queensland Museum collections
from October 1871, had little palaeontological expertise available to him in
Brisbane, and sent specimens away to obtain information. Daintree's
material went to London in 1873 as did some from the early explorers
such as William Hann. Gerard Krefft at the Australian Museum was asked
for help with identifications, as was the Reverend W.B. Clarke. Fossil
plants were sent to Baron von Mueller in Melbourne. The oldest
acquisition book for geology dates back to 1876 with a miscellaneous
register back to 1873; in these and subsequent volumes there are listed
specimens that were part of the 'old' collection in the Post Office building
to which it had been moved from the Parliamentary building.

Nineteenth century donations of geological material, excluding
minerals, include quite a representative collection of British material
demonstrating that some colonists maintained an interest in 'home' and
that collecting was not a new activity for them 2 ^ 1 . Amongst the oldest
recognizable donations in the collection today 22 are two collected in 1872
by an expedition led by William Hann— one of the many expeditions
during the two decades from 1860 that set out for the north 23 . Hann was
accompanied by the geologist Norman Taylor. When prospecting up the
Walsh River they found ichthyosaur remains in sedimentary rocks which
they compared with the Cretaceous deposits of the Flinders:

flWHW^H^^WJ

fc?^8S§

■
JWJmy-^'i

JV'^PW

itfy-rir"- : "

**-

132

A more interesting spot for a scientific man can scarcely be
conceived; here he is surrounded by the objects of his interest, they
are under his feet like pebbles on the seashore, they are hanging
over his head ready to crush him if not careful, he cannot move
without seeing them around him on all sides; they were of all sizes,
and numbers of them beautifully perfect; what, and how many to
save was the puzzle, each new find exceeded the last one in beauty,
until all the beautiful ones were sufficient to load a dray, could we
have saved them, and, as I had not even one packhorse to carry
these and the rock specimens, I was put to my wits end how many to
transport. However, Mr Taylor and myself collected the best of the
various species, which we were content to secure and carry along
with us 245 .

Jack records that a few were carried on 'and the remainder buried
beneath the ashes of the camp fire' 23 . The specimens donated to the
museum were 'two or three bones of the vertebrae of a large animal which
were attached to each other by limestone' 2A ~ 5 and a fossil turtle 26 . This
material represents the starting point for another of the strengths of the
museum geology collection — Queensland Cretaceous fossils.

Following Coxen's death in 1876, Karl Staiger, the government
analytical chemist, who had been appointed custodian in 1873, was in sole
charge of collections. Records of new geological material are few in his
time but one illustrates the opening up of Queensland and its early
mineral boom— a Mr G. Smith of Copperfield, an early boom town, wrote
to Staiger from the central highlands sending fossil bones from his
property, Granville. These were bones of the fossil marsupial
Zygomaturus.

The flow of specimens from the Darling Downs settlers also slowed.
One of Owen's collectors, George Frederick Bennett— son of Dr George
Bennett 27 — came to live in Toowoomba, presumably to be nearer the
Darling Downs where his chief love, the fossil bones, were located. He
gave a talk about Rambles on the Downs to the Philosophical Society in
1875 and later donated a collection to the society museum 28 . He bemoaned
the lack of interest and knowledge in the current landowners compared
with the early days, saying they often mistook fossil bones for those of
horse or oxen.

Some new material from southern Queensland came to the museum
from A.C. Gregory 29 who, in 1875, quit the post of surveyor-general and
became geological surveyor for south Queensland under the Department
of Works. From the museum's point of view it was no doubt useful to have
Gregory appointed as one of the foundation trustees of the new museum
in 1876. However, after his retirement in 1879 the posts of geological
surveyor for the north and south of the state were abolished and united in
the Geological Survey of Queensland in 1880 under the control of Robert
Logan Jack who had been Daintree's successor in the north 30 . Jack initiated
a collection within the Geological Survey itself and then less material came
to the museum from this source.

In 1877 work began on a new museum building in William Street. The
first full-time curator, young William Haswell from Edinburgh, appointed
in 1880, was a zoologist. Although he tried hard there is no sign of a
sustained attempt to acquire fossil donations. They seem to have arrived
rather haphazardly, donated by those who found them on their properties,
or on their travels. One specimen that came in during Haswell's time was
a bone of Dinornis, the giant flightless bird of the Pleistocene of Australia,
donated by James Daniells of Headington Hall, Pilton in 1880. Alex
Macpherson, later to be employed as a collector, also began donating

***<

William Harm, accompanied by geologist
Norman Taylor, led an expedition to
northern Queensland. They found
ichthyosaur remains in sedimentary
rocks along the Walsh River.

Robert Logan Jack set up the Queensland
Geological Survey in 1880.

133

specimens in 1880. Other transactions at this time show that perhaps
Haswell did not fully appreciate the significance of the old collection, for,
in June 1880, 44 fossil marsupial bones from the Darling Downs were
shipped to the Canterbury Museum as part of an exchange deal.

Haswell resigned in late 1880 because of poor treatment and low pay.
In January 1882. after a sporadic influx of applications for the post, Charles
Walter de Vis was appointed curator at < lie age of 53; he was put on six
months probation and an annual salary of £400. He remained in office until
he was 75 and during his tenure he built up the reputation of the museum
as a centre for vertebrate palaeontology

de Vis' Era

After a short time in Brisbane verting acquainted with his new
collections de Vis began to get interested in fossil bones. This resulted
primarily from the preponderance of collections of vertebrate material
already accumulated from sources on the Darling Downs. In 1884 he
separated off the fossil and mineral collections from the other collections
and by 1885 could write— after another successful field season by his
collector, Kendall Broad bent —that 'the number and variety of fossil bones
gathered in the lasi two years has necessitated a thorough examination of
the whole collection* 3J . So, despite little formal training, without access to
reference material and with next to no library, he began to unravel the
myriad bones before him. de Vis went on to work on upper Cainozoic
marsupials, birds, turtles, lizards, crocodiles, lungfish, and Cretaceous fish
and reptiles.

One of his manuscript books remains which shows his lists of new
names for fossil marsupials. It illustrates the quandaries he encountered
and the temptations that existed to give every fossil a different name, He
resisted those temptations, and most of the manuscript names that he did
use have stood the test of time and very few have been submerged in
synonymy. He often had large samples— a desideratum for good
taxonomy— and he clearly understood the nature of intraspecific
variation— his judgements have usually turned out to be correct
He became a respected worker in his day and his opinions on fossil
vertebrates, especially birds, were sought. He seems to have been an
evolutionary biologist and this is illustrated by his inference in a paper on
Darling Downs turtles that 'the chelonian division of the fauna accords
with the others in declaring that since its remains were buried a total
change has swept over the vertebrate life of Australia' '- — he found no
fossil forms coeval with existing species. He also does not seem to have
taken kindly a dedication to him in a book by a local teacher of geology,
who undoubtedly had some dated ideas *, for in the museum's copy of the
book de Vis has written to deny all association with its preparation.

Of course, much of his time was taken up with running the museum
virtually single-handed with little positive support from outside. He did
much to foster acquisition and exchange of geological material — in 1882 he
wrote numerous letters to initiate deals with museums and universities,
both within Australia and overseas, and with the Queensland Schools of
Arts— at Bundaberg, Maryborough, Cooktown, Charters Towers,
Ravenswood, Gayndah, Mount Perry, Rockhampton, and Batesford Free
Library and Museum. Several of these efforts paid off, and one collection
of note which came by exchange from the University of Newcastle-upon-
Tyne is a representative collection of Carboniferous Coal Measure
vertebrate material collected by Thomas Atthey

For the scientific community of Queensland. 1883 was a high point

134

with the Royal Society replacing the old Philosophical Society. This year
also saw a high 10% of all donations to the museum coming to the
geological section. The donors, many of whom recognised the significance
of their finds, included residents of Brisbane of varying backgrounds and
nationalities, amongst them some of the earliest free settlers in the
Brisbane region including David C. McConnel from Manchester-" and a
member of the Petrie family. Many of the donors were squatter-politicians
such as Thomas Mcllwraith, Albert Norton, W.H. Corfield and Edward
Palmer, some of whom roamed far in their early days as stockmen, or
during election times 34 . Station owners, such as Ernest Henry of
Hughenden, and their managers, land commissioners, surveyors,
engineers of railways and roads, well- and bore-sinkers, and general
travellers— usually professional civil or hydraulic engineers such as J.E.
Falconer, R.E. Graham and Patrick Doyle — all collected material. There
were also a few rare men and women who were actually out and about
collecting fossils and rocks for their own sake, such as Gregory himself,
and John Simmonds. stonemason, who specialised in fossil plants :a and
was a staunch member of the Royal Society from its inception L \ The Ogg
family continued to send material to the museum from the time that the
Reverend Ogg took up land on North Pine River and found fossil plants.
Later his relative E.J. Ogg moved north to Rockhampton from where he
sent a steady trickle of specimens including some interesting
Carboniferous blastoids (relatives of sea urchins and sea lilies) that were
not to be described until the 1960s 36 . A. Williams and his son John found
lungfish and turtle remains while sinking wells at Eight Mile Plains in
1885.

de Vis found time to write many papers on fossil material and also
instituted the Annals of the Queensland Museum in an attempt to overcome
problems of publication 37 . Indigenous journals were rare throughout
Australia in the 19th century and much local reporting of scientific
meetings and new discoveries, including descriptions of new taxa, were
given in local newspapers, de Vis, who had a journalistic background,
resorted to this on several occasions using both the Brisbane Courier and
the Queenslander. Later workers have sometimes complained of the
extraordinary medium chosen for scientific announcement^. Now, with

Jack Woods with a skull of Eury zygoma,
the Giant Cheek-pouched marsupial
(photograph from the Brisbane Telegraph
•I November 1954).

135

Fossil jaw bones of Macropus titan
collected by Broadbent from Gowrie,
southeast Queensland.

the Royal Society Proceedings (which followed on from the Philosophical
Society Transactions) and the museum's Annals, joined briefly in the early
1890s by the short-lived Natural History Society Transactions, publication of
scientific work was not such a problem.

Robert Etheridge jnr, a palaeontologist from the British Museum,
worked on many of the specimens with colleagues in Britain but also
with Robert Jack of the Queensland Geological Survey 38 . Etheridge
subsequently became director of the Australian Museum 27 and on several
occasions acted as honorary palaeontologist to the Queensland Museum.
He left a legacy of important described fossils, many acquired during de
Vis' time as director. From the museum collection, a Carboniferous
palaeoniscoid (ray-finned) fish and 'sharks' of the same age 38 were the
oldest vertebrates recorded from the state until almost a century later.
Some were found in the new rail cutting at Bogantungun by a Mr Sexton
of the telegraph station in 1883. A shark tooth from the Rockhampton
district, Deltodus australis, had been collected by de Vis himself.
Etheridge, with Woodward, also described Cretaceous fish and reptiles
from the western districts of the state 39 , and Plio-Pleistocene vertebrates
including fossil teeth of the Queensland lungfish from the Darling Downs
and elsewhere 38 .

In the field de Vis was ably served by a few good collectors. Alex
Macpherson had been appointed in 1881 as geological collector. In March
1882 a man who certainly was one of the most able of collectors of his time
was appointed. This remarkable man, Kendall Broadbent of Yorkshire, was
appointed on a temporary basis only for nine months. He stayed on and
began a series of field seasons liaising with settlers and collecting fossil
vertebrates on the Darling Downs. On one trip he 'bagged' over 100 bones
including new diprotodontids and nothotheres— according to de Vis— and
a giant extinct bird Dinornis queenslandicus which was prepared by a Mr
Daniells of Pilton 31 . Broadbent s reports to de Vis give an insight into the
problems of field collection in Queensland around the turn of the century.
Apart from the vagaries of weather and its effect on transport and the
problems with Aborigines, the collectors suffered from the habitual lack
of money and were continually having to prise resources from the
bureaucrats several hundreds of miles away in Brisbane in order to
continue. The last geological collector employed by the museum was
Henry Gilbert Stokes, geologist and a prominent member of the Natural
History Society of Queensland. He took up the post of collector for a short
time in 1892. In 1893 money for paid collectors as such ran out and even
field work was often out of the question in the economic depression that
led on to the Great Shearers' Strike. The two collectors on the staff at that
time were brought back to the museum to act as attendants. To make up
the loss, de Vis had to rely on purchases, exchanges and donations. He
fostered a group of men to collect for him from whom he would
occasionally purchase specimens outright. Most of these people
were collecting fossil bones on the Darling
Downs. They included Henry

136

Hurst— who had been a collector on the staff before his dismissal in 1891
Richard Frost and C. Herman Hartmann. de Vis also kept sending out
requests for donations and exchanges to all major institutions in the world,
and, nearer to home, made acquaintance with as many people as possible.
He contributed regularly to the few statewide societies including the Royal
Society of Queensland and the Australian Association for the
Advancement of Science. The museum archives show that he maintained
regular correspondence with several interested landowners. One such was
Frederick L. Berney, of Sylvania station near Hughenden, who for a
decade or more in the late 19th and early 20th century donated numerous
specimens to the museum, including several important vertebrate and
plant fossils 40 .

Donations in the first decade of the 20th century still included
material from well sinkings. The Hon. J.T. Bell sent fossil kangaroo,
diprotodontid, the giant emu Dromaeius and giant lizard Megalania
remains from Warra in 1909. de Vis wrote: This well-section illustrates
the (disturbed?) character of the bone deposits on the Downs, the bones
show by their different colors and different original matrices that they
have been swept together from previous burying grounds' 41 ; Mr Gore of
Yandilla — 'one of the few who are alive to the interest felt by many
besides themselves in the fossils of the Darling Downs— while engaged
in watching the progress of workmen employed in sinking a well* came
across bones of an extinct bird which de Vis went on to name PalaeoltsUs
gorei m . Another interesting donor of this time is Charles Campbell, railway
works surveyor, who over the period 1891-1911 was regularly writing and
sending fossils to de Vis. These included diprotodontid bones and Silurian
fossils found as he worked the new sections of railway. His letters
invariably show a picture letterhead from the town where he was billeted.
Antarctic rocks from the summit of Mt Erebus reached the museum in
1909, forwarded by Professor T.W. Edgeworth David on behalf of Sir
Ernest Shackleton.

de Vis retired from office in 1905 but stayed on, by public petition, as
scientific advisor to his successors. He continued to deal with geological
matters, including his research, during CJ. Wild's period as acting director
and during the first years of Hamlyn-Harris' tenure as director. He died
quietly in 1915, age 86 and was hailed as a 'pioneer' 37 .

137

Ubert Longman a* Hamlet.
Longman's lectures, and articles on the

evolution of raar wot* given ■

i iciice in the press, it was a l-upuUr

subject ai this lime and Longman mode .1

Epcual studv oi il (uirtuon h'uiii iht-

ub< 1936).

The Longman Era

In 1911 Director llamlyn-ilarns had the foresight to appoint, as
scientific assistant, a man with no professional museum or biological
training as such, but who was a keen and able amateur naturalist 4 -'. Heber
Albert Longman, before he entered the museum (as assistant curator), had
specialised in insects and had made an important plant collection.
However, with no formal training in geology or anatomy, he set to and
became one of the most important practising vertebrate palaeontologists
in Australia tor the several decades that followed. Longman elevated the
Utation of Australian research on vertebrate fossils to the world arena.
He became director of the museum in 1917 determined to continue his
enthusiastic work on fossil bones— usually by working through his annual
three weeks leave and on Christmas Day**,

Longman's first palaeontological paper was on a fossil fish, Portheus
australis, two specimens of which had been donated around 1912 by S.
Dunn of Hughenden in resp< series of letters sent out by Hamlyn-

Harris a . Tims began the museum's active research on Cretaceous fishes
which is maintained to this day. In 1932 Longman described a new genus
of Cretaceous fish, Ftinderskhthys denmeadi '\ named after the brother oi a
young man who worked during his university vacation at the museum,
Alan Demnead — later to be chief government geologist of Queensland.

- of Kichmond, who later came down to Brisbane to meet
Longman, had found the fossil on the golf links— 'the holy spot', according
to W.E. Schevilt of the Harvard Exploring Expedition *

In 1915 Longman turned his attention to fossil reptiles with a paper
in the Mewoirs on a giant fossil turtle which had been donated by
Frederick Bemey from Sylvania station. He described a new genus and
species Cratochelon? bmieyi and noted that it was 'a matter of some
surprise to those interested in palaeontology that the Queensland
Cretaceous formations have as yet yielded comparatively few remains of
the grant reptilian forms whirh chararierr/ed Mesozoic faunas' * Longman
put this down to lack of systematic research in these areas. Over the next
three decades he went on to describe ichthyosaurs; the plesiosaur
Krou<- juemsldndicus* 7 , identified amazingly from only a scrap of

jawbone given to the museum m 1899 by A Crombie of Hughenden; the
giant sauropods Rhoetosaurus hrownei w and Austrosaums omcktllopr-'K the
former found by Thomas Jack and a Mr Wood and dedicated to the station
manager of Durham Downs. Arthur J. Browne, who sent the first pieces to
the museum and helped Longman visit the Eurombah Creek site in 1926;
and the crocodiles Pullwmarchits pollens de Vis, and Crocodilus nuthani
named after the governor of Queensland at that time, Sir Matthew
Nathan™'' 1 .

Fossil marsupials ajso came under Longman's discerning gaze. In an
elegant paper, he described and reconstructed a new genus Euryzygoma
dunense from material de Vis had referred to as Nuthotherium" . The
model, so admired by Sir Arthur Smith Woodward of the British Museum
of Natural History"', had been made by Longman and his new assistant,
Tom Marshall, with the aid of Portland cement and glue. More marsupials
donated by Charles Campbell, by Thomas Jack of Dalby and N. Pearson of
Nobby were worked on in the 1920s 4 ' 1 ' 4 . Longman also spent some time on
the fust major cave fauna of vertebrates from Marmor Limestone Quarry
near Rockhampton where he arrived in 1924 with the manager Samuel
Evans.

Longman did endeaA^ur to bring scientific matters to the public, at

138

least in Queensland, through newspaper articles* 5 " 8 and lectures. He was
also probably the first to give courses on vertebrate fossils at the
University of Queensland in the geology department 57 t thus inspiring some
local people to consider vertebrate fossils in their geological work.
Vertebrate palaeontology had never been an integral part of either
geological or biological courses at the University of Queensland, which had
been founded in 1910— the museum being recognized as the centre in
Queensland. Schools, however, had long taught geology and had certainly
considered vertebrate fossils 33,57 .

In the early 1930s Longman invited a young Melbourne geologist,
Edwin Sherborn Hills, to take up the study of Queensland's Tertiary fish
which had been turning up in geological surveys around the Brisbane
region for about 20 years. Hills had recently begun work on fossil fish at
Melbourne University and had won a research scholarship to London"*. Ht
produced two papers on the Tertiary fish from Darra, Bald Hills and Red
Bank Plains in 1934 and 1943 s9,80 . This work remains largely unreviewed to
this day and only recently Anne Kemp, an associate of the museum, has
been studying the Tertiary lungfish.

Other palaeontologists were encouraged by Longman, as by his
predecessors, to work on museum specimens. These included Henry
Casseli Richards, the first professor of geology at the University of
Queensland, and A.B. Walkom. In 1915, Walkom reviewed de Vis' work on
plants and named Nilssonia mucronala, another of Berney's finds, this one
from O'Connel Creek on Wyangarie, and described plants apparently
collected by one of the few women who accumulated fossil collections, Mrs
Lumley Hill of Bellevue, near Esk 61 2 . F.W. Whitehouse, of the geology
department at the University of Queensland, did much pioneer work on
the important Cretaceous ammonite collections which Robert Etheridge
had not found time to tackle at the turn of the century. Among his type
specimens are ammonites collected by Henry Hurst from Victoria Downs
station, Morven, and Walsh River material from E.W. Smith 63 .

Longman preparing the skull of
Kronosaurus collected in 1935 froftl
Telemon Station. Hughenden
(photograph from the Queenslander 28
May 1936).

139

During the post- World War I depression years the museum was run
on very stringent lines and there was little or no funding available for field
work or research. However, Longman gave hospitality and assistance to
two major expeditions which came to Queensland. Firstly, Australian-born
Sir George Hubert Wilkins led a British Museum expedition in 1923-4 to
explore the 'unknown' regions of north Queensland. He was pleased to
receive museum and state assistance, eventually honouring Longman in
the naming of species 64 . Although not the main objective of the expedition,
fossil reptiles and ammonites were collected and sent to the British
Museum, and some were later donated to the Queensland Museum
(see Chapter 8).

A decade later, from 1931 to 1933, the Harvard University Museum of
Comparative Zoology Exploring Expedition toured Australia. For much of
the second year Harvard geologist W.E. Schevill was expedition leader.
He travelled widely, recruiting local help when he could. The Queensland
Museum was offered the opportunity to participate but this was not
approved— because of lack of funds or lack of interest on the part of the
state government. Longman gave the expedition every assistance, storing
specimens as they were sent to him, fixing collecting permits, and keeping

The skeleton of Kronosaurus
queenslandicus Longman, prepared and
on display at Harvard University
Museum of Comparative Zoology in 1959.
Viewing the exhibit are the distinguished
vertebrate palaeontologist Alfred 5.
Romer and Mrs. Romer.

up a correspondence with Schevill. However, the major consequence of
Longman's inability to join Schevill was the loss to Australia of the first
articulated skeleton of Kronosaurus, the genus which Longman had
described in 1924 from a scrap of jawbone. This is one of the most
fascinating fossils to come out of Queensland and its loss was a source of
some comment at the time 65 . Later, Longman tried to persuade Harvard to
return a cast of the restored skeleton but war intervened and this was not
to be 66 . The fossil was found when Schevill came to hear of a series of
large nodules in a paddock near Hughenden. Schevill's assistant, a British
migrant whom he called The Maniac', had experience with explosives
from his military training and, after initial confirmation that they were
dealing with a large reptilian fossil, they decided to dynamite out these
heavy blocks— 'The Richmond district took much more time than I had
anticipated, largely because of some heavy lumps that were hard to shift —
I had to use gelignite for some of them' 45 . They then dug a trench into the

140

paddock to the lower level of the concretions and loaded them into the
back of their Ford truck — which just managed to get them to the nearest
railhead. The blocks were shipped off to Harvard wrapped in end-of-sale
bloody wool, which so horrified the director of the Museum of
Comparative Zoology, Thomas Barbour, that he made Schevill wash
enormous block with disinfectant for fear of anthrax 67 .

In 1934 Schevill asked Longman to send a cast of the original jawbone
to compare with the new material, and his assistant, Tom Marshall, made a
fine copy. Eventually the almost complete skeleton was prepared by T.E.
White, and Kronosaurus queenslandicus, the species which Longman had
first named in 1924, was revealed. It fulfilled Longman's predictions, based
on only the fragment of the lower jaw, about the plesiosaurian
relationships. The Harvard Kronosaurus was spectacularly mounted and
displayed in 1959**. When this event was announced in the Australian
press without a mention of Longman, Professor W.H. Bryan sent a cable to
Harvard reminding them that Longman was the discoverer xAKronosautm
and that it was a matter of regret that such an important announcement
should lack any reference to the original discovery and to Mr Longman's
masterly interpretation of the initially fragmentary material. Longman was
certainly consulted throughout the early work on the skeleton but,
presumably after Longman's death and with Schevill leaving Harvard to
enter the world of oceanography, his contribution was allowed to fade.

Longman in his letters to Schevill dropped several hints that he
would like to see the Kronosaurus during preparation in the late 1930s
but he never was to leave Australia. An attempt was made to send Tom
Marshall to the USA on a Carnegie travelling scholarship in 1939""
However, with the coming of war Marshall was not able to take up this
chance. Longman was naturally disappointed and not a little envious at the
loss of the prize specimen, and it seems ironic that Kronosaurus remains
inadequately known to this day. At least one large block of Kronosaurus
and other reptile remains collected by Schevill rest, still unprepared, in
the stores of Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology. New
material collected in 1935, and by Bartholomai and Tebble in 1979, is now
being prepared in the Queensland Museum. T.E. White did venture that
the more common plesiosaur remains from Queensland were similar to
the New Zealand Mauisaurus, but suggestions that this be written up for
the Memoirs were not carried through 70 .

\\M. S< hevill {left) with colleague R.H.
Denisun outside Harvard University
Museum of Comparative Zoolugy in 1983
(photograph by courtesy S. Turner).

141

I ; fldescrlbfcd Triassic cockroach from the
Ipswich Coal Measures, collected in 1984.

The Post War Upsurge

There was a break after Longman's retirement in 1945 until 1948
when Juck Tunstall Woods joined the Stiff, but from thereafter the holders
of the euratorships of geology, mammals, and of the post of director have
continued to lay emphasis on vertebrate palaeontology.

Woods, a 1946 graduate of the geology department, University of
Queensland, had been much influenced by Professor H.C, Richards,
changing his course from engineering to geology. On joining the museum
staff as assistant he was thus The lirst qualified geologist to handle the
collections, and his appoinrmeni began a new era for geology in the
museum. One of his first jobs was to clean up all the old geological
displays and specimens, but after a thorough grounding in the more
menial tasks of euration he took up the vertebrate palaeontology banner,
working over de Vis' and Longman's material with the aim of a review of
fossil marsupial genera 7 '. During this work he recognized the Pliocene
nature of the Chinchilla buna and made the first thorough restoration
of the skull of the marsupial lion Thylacoleo. His work on the skull of
Thyiacoko camifex was the first truly modern vertebrate palaeontological
study from the museum '\ He prepared the material with modern
techniques, and provided not only accurate morphological data on brain

and external structure but also an analysis of the function of
marsupial lion teeth with an extrapolation about the dier of the animal.
More receni work on tooth wear has sustained his conclusions

Woods' first publication in the Ahtmurs was about a small fauna of
Cretaceous crabs and tobsters from Currane station — a donation (torn

anna Shannon (now Mrs Huessler) in the late 1940s r \ His work on
the marsupials Pahrchestes, Propkopus and the extant HypsiprwmoiUw
again went beyond basic data to functional morphology, and provided
thorough (axonomic revision' 1 . Admirers of his invertebrate work 7 *
implied that he had regressed from invertebrates to Cainozoie vertebrates.

In 1949 Woods collected Tertiary plants and insects from deposits

Brisbane in company with Olof Selling, well known Swedish
palaeobotanist. The museums collection of fossil insects did not increase
again until in 1961 it acquired its first specimens from the Triassic Ipswich
Coal Measures. These were donated by F.A. Perkins of the entomology
department of the University of Queensland, The collection was
subsequently added to by Dahms, the museums entomologist. However,
apart from reports on the Hemiptera ,;5 little work has yet been done on
these Triassic collections

Woods did much to popularize the dinosaurs and other vertebrates *
as well as to enhance the scientific reputation of the museum abroad. One
of the important tasks he carried out was the location of most of the type
specimens in the museum collections re , which has been the basis for more
recent compilations J To broaden his experience he moved to the Mines
Department in 1959 as senior palaeontologist, but was recalled to the
museum to be acting director during the last difficult months of Mack's
life, he subsequently became director in 1964.

Woods was succeeded as geological assistant by another Queensland
University graduate, Alan Bartholomai. Bartholomai began extensive
field work throughout Queensland collecting fossil marsupials from many
horizons. His work on Cretaceous fossil fish with a review of the predatory
pachyrhiziodids was published in 1966 ^ Later in the same decade the
American Museum of Natural History began a senes of field expeditions
to Australia and Bartholomai was to work with them.

142

Modern Times

Bartholomai became director in 1969, and continued the museum's
tradition of research in vertebrate palaeontology covering a wide range
from Cainozoic marsupials to Mesozoic reptiles and fish. More importantly
he fostered a whole team of experts in vertebrate and invertebrate
palaeontology— adding to the strength of the geology section by the
appointment of honorary fellows who have been able to use the museum
as an institutional base from which to apply for government grants.
Research fellows Anne Kemp — formerly of the University of
Queensland— working on lungfish, and Susan Turner — formerly of the
Hancock Museum, Newcastle-on-Tyne— studying Palaeozoic to Mesozoic
fish, are both adding new and known taxa to the collections and extending
the museum's field of expertise. Director Bartholomai's assistant, Tempe
Lees, is working on Cretaceous fossil fish — including Belonostomus.
Further, Bartholomai has encouraged links with palaeontologists in other
institutions both in Australia and elsewhere, and close collaboration with
invertebrate and vertebrate palaeontologists in the University of
Queensland, notably J. Jell and R.A. Thulborn, both being associates of the
museum. Another associate, F.S. Colliver, formerly curator of the geology
museum in the University of Queensland, has donated his extensive fossil
collection of Australian and overseas material to the museum.

Measuring the distance between the
dinosaur footprints in the ceiling of
Westvale Colliery, Rosewood, southeast
Queensland.

J.T. Woods with natural limestone
concretions, often containing Cretaceous
fossil vertebrates, from the Back Channel
of Flinders River near Richmond.

143

Ebenaqua ritchieri, an almost complete
fossil fish from the Late Permian, Rangal
Coal Measures, Utah coal mine,
Blackwater, Queensland. The type is in
the museum.

Xsi

"SSaS

A new genus of bony fish from the
Cretaceous, Laura Downs Station, Julia
Creek.

Peter Jell, a third University of Queensland graduate appointed by
Woods, succeeded Bartholomai as museum geologist in 1969. He was the
first full-time invertebrate palaeontologist on the staff and during his short
tenure added significantly to the collections of Palaeozoic fossils and
Cambrian trilobites from north-western Queensland. Unfortunately Jell
left the museum in February 1970. His replacement, the present curator of
geology, Mary Wade, was also an invertebrate palaeontologist when she
was appointed in 1971 Wade came from the University of South Australia
where she had been studying the peculiar Precambrian fauna of Australia.
Finding no such deposits in Queensland, she turned her attention to the
rich faunas of Cambrian and Ordovician nautiloids from the north-west of
the state. She also succumbed to the vertebrate fossils. The world's most
complete Cretaceous ichthyosaur, which came from Telemon station in
north Queensland, had been languishing on display in a half-prepared
state since 1935. Wade arranged for its preparation and eventually
described some of the museum's ichthyosaur material 80 . Several more
ichthyosaurs await preparation — the rocks laid down in the Cretaceous
seas, which covered the Great Artesian Basin 120 millions years ago, seem

144

to have preserved at that time as many ichthyosaurs as the rest of the
world put together.

In 1976 the museum became involved in a project which gained
international recognition. A chance discovery in the 1960s by Ron
McKenzie while opal fossicking near Winton led to the subsequent
exposure of thousands of dinosaur footprints. Bartholomai and R.H.
Tedford of the American Museum of Natural History had seen the site in
197L But it was not until 1976 that Wade and Thulborn, guided there by
McKenzie, made a trial excavation. A museum party, assisted by the army
and volunteers mainly from the university excavated a much larger area in
1977. This revealed that Queensland had the world's only known stampede
of dinosaurs in rocks about 100 million years old. Thulborn was the first to
realize that all the dinosaurs but one, the biggest, were going one way and
were probably running hell for leather at that. He and Wade took on the
huge task of counting, measuring and identifying the footprints— a task
which has culminated in a definitive monograph 81 .

As a consequence of this work, the museum is now a trustee, with the
Winton Shire Council, for Lark Quarry Environmental Park, being
responsible for its conservation, and for the interpretive information
supplied through Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service to the
public. The park is named in honour of volunteer worker, Malcolm Lark
of Miles, who helped with the 1976 excavation. This site, which contains
nearly all the known tracks of running dinosaurs in the world, is truly a
part of our world's heritage.

Wade and Turner with Jell of the University of Queensland, have
made collections of Silurian and Devonian corals, nautiloids, plant and fish
remains, as well as early Carboniferous fish including some very unusual
sharks" from the Broken River district of north Queensland— a place of
great beauty first shown to the geological world by Richard Daintree in
1873 8 *.

A large Jurassic labyrinthodont amphibian was also located when
Wade was investigating tooth-bearing rock found by Colin Kehl, a farmer
at Wandoan 83 . It is now named Siderops kehli by Anne Warren of La Trobe
University. Until a slightly younger specimen was found in China in 1985
this was considered to be the last known labyrinthodont in the world.
However, Siderops is one of the largest and most complete known. The

The head of the icththyosaur
Platypterygtut, australis found at Telemon
Station between Richmond and
Hughenden in 1935. It is one of tht mOSl
complete Cretaceous ichthyosaurs in the
world.

145

: : : ■'■'■:■.■■■ ■■■■ ■

•fp?

■ _

Museum staff working on the dinosaur
trackways at Lark Quarry. Winton, 1977.

The dinosaur trackways at Lark Quarry
Environmental Park.

Entrance to the covered observation
platform at Lark Quarry.

146

specimen had been buried at right angles to a river cliff and was collected
by excavating a cut Through the collapsed cliff front, following carefully
from the partly-buried head to the shoulders at the top of the cliff. The
rest of the body and most of the tail were found later in a buried pile of
bounders 50 metres away towards the bottom of the cliff. Despite their
enthusiasm no member of the collecting party felt tempted to excavate
further for the tip of the tail, which apparently went downhill with an
earlier rock fall.

In 1978 Wiide, Thulborn and Bartholomai joined a British Museum
(Natural History) expedition to Queensland to collect: Mesozoic reptiles.
Most of the important specimens from this expedition are being prepared
in London and then will be returned to the Queensland Museum. An
exception was the dragonfly wing from the Cretaceous which was retained
in Queensland— a wing of the same age and possibly the same family as
that acquired by the museum in the 1920s. In 1980 further Cretaceous
insects — a cockroach wing and a beetle ehira — were collected from the
Wmton area by a museum party.

Another interesting site at Rewan in the Carnarvon district of central
Queensland has yielded many vertebrate, and more recently, plant fossils
to a Succession (A museum field parties since it was visited by Bartholomai
who investigated its small Triassic reptiles. Warren has also defined an
extensive range of labyrinthodont amphibians from this site. Surprisi
in 1929, Longman had misinterpreted a fossil from Rewan as Cainozoic
crocodilian. It was a small mistake but one that held up the search for
Triassic vertebrates for a while. When reexamined, his specimens also
turned oul io be Triassic thecodonts and labyrinthodonts. Thulborn, an
expert on dinosaur locomotion, worked on the description and restoration
of a Triassic pre-dinosaur Kulisuchus from Rewan, and has recognized
bones of the first Australian mammal-like reptiles, the forebears of the
mammals over 200 million years ago. As well as the 'Rewan beast', a
kannemeyeriid similar to forms found throughout the southern continents
in the early Triassic. he is studying Longman's Rhoetosaurus, a further leg
and hind loot bones of the sauropod having been collected by Wade and
himself from the original site.

At the end of 1972 a graduate of Yale University, Michael Archer, was
appointed to the newly-created position of curator of mammalogy. He had
first come to the Museum of Western Australia as a Fulbright scholar in
1970. He was to work on both recent and fossil mammals during his five
years at the museum, pushing bade through time to older marsupial faunas
in the Tertiary deposits found especially in north Queensland in the
Carpentaria sub-basin (Pleistocene), at Bluff Downs (Pliocene) and at
Miocene sites in the Northern Territory. His identification of a fossil bat
enabled dating of this site by comparison with a Middle Eocene bat in
France where terrestrial and marine deposits are mterlayered. Thus a
virtually complete Tertiary record is present in the sediments of
Queensland. He also completed an analysis of the basicranium of all extant
Australian marsupial genera, necessary to interpret fossil material. He was
involved in several major fossil collecting trips, some made jointly by the
museum and the American Museum of Natural History and also some
financed by American fossil collector, Ray E. Lemley.

Archer left the museum to join the University of New South Wales in
1978, from which institution he continues his exploration of Australian
mammalian fossils, his latest excavations being made at a remarkable site
at Riversleigh-'. R.E. Molnar. also from the United States, who replaced

The re- discovery u! the Rewan site. A
Bartholomai cxc3V3ting.

14'.

Archer on the staff of the museum, has concentrated on fossil crocodiles,
dinosaurs and marsupial locomotion. He discovered the first pterosaur
remains in Queensland and, with Bartholomai, undertook a study of the
large Cretaceous ornithopod dinosaur which they named
Muttaburra&aurus after the town of Muttaburra in central Queensland.
This is one of the most complete skeletons of an Australian dinosaur. It
was originally collected in 1963 by Bartholomai and Dahms — the
entomologist on the museum staff. Its preparation for display was possible
only through the corporate sector support of Kelloggs — through an
Australia-wide 'back of pack' promotion on their Rice Bubbles product.
Understanding of geology, and particularly the study of fossils and
their use to the state of Queensland, has come a long way since the
founding fathers began amassing their private collections over 140 years
ago. It is a science which underpins many of the endeavours of the state to
this day, for accurate knowledge about the rocks of Queensland is still
necessary for a proper understanding of its history and its resources.
Coxen, Gregory, Daintree, D'Oyly Aplin, de Vis, Longman and many others
would wonder at the changes of the last few years and each would have
applauded the endeavours of the men and women who built on the
foundations that they put in place.

•**\jt

rj*fi

Altingham Creek. Above:: Archer
excavating kangaroo skeleton; below.
main quarry.

148

Jurassic Durikai plant beds near
Warwick, Queensland. L to R: Associate
Stan Colliver, Tempe Lees, A.R. Colliver.

Archer, assisted by Errol Beutel,
excavating Miocene deposits at Alcoote,
northwest of Alice Springs, on an
expedition financed by American fossil
collector Ray E. Lemley.

149

SCALES,

FEATHERS

ANDFUR

Vertebrate
Zoology

PrrviauspQge: Marble Velvet I

OtutUTV mfirmnraUi Gray. 1842. A
widespread species in the open forest:
Queensland (drawing from Furty
Quevnsuitvi Lizards, a Queensland
Museum Booklet, illustrated by staff
artists S, Hiley and M. Oakden).

In Europe in the 19th century the study of natural history
became very popular. Much of the popularity resulted from the
persuasiveness of the doctrine of natural theology- By
contemplating nature one contemplated God through the
tangible products of His Works. Here, it was thought, was a
noble amalgamation of science and theology,

One of the important endeavours of the 3t udy of natural history was
to discover new species, In this search for novelties, collections of
preserved animals were in demand. In Victorian society it was also
fashionable to have some of Gods Works on show in the household.
Stuffed animals and ones preserved in spirit were highly prized, tn
response to the demand for spec taiens collectors travelled to all parts Of
the globe — often under the patronage of the wealthy. There were also
entrepreneurs who set up shop as natural history dealers in the major
cities of the colonial powers. These shops \v.t< clearing hem urge

numbers of collections K

In the early part of the century nearly all collections made in
Australia were sent, or taken hack to England or mainland Europe By the
1860s most of the obvious Species Of Vertebrates bad been discovered and
named by naturalists overseas. Later, with the growing independence oj
the colonies, the colonists themselves began to study their own animals.
Collections were being amassed by people who had little desire to see
l hem leave the colony. However. Study of these colonial collections was
impeded by the very fact that the named specimens were overseas.
Without access to these named specimens, the local naturalists were often
not in a position to know if their animals were new or not. In the young
Queensland colony, study was also dogged by the lack of relevant
literature Without the published findings of European naturalists,
working in the colonies operated very much in the dark lfj .
These w T ere the circumstances when the Queensland Philosophical
Society began gathering specimens together for a museum in 1862. This
was [he atmosphere in which research on mammals, birds, reptiles,
amphibians and fishes began in Queensland.

A Pioneer Museum and its Ornithologists 1862-1882

In most museums of the mid-19th century specimens were either
exhibited in jars of sptrit-of-wine, or as skins laid more i -r less flat, or
skins were mounted in life-like positions, oi they were dried if they kept
their body form. Of course, the mounted specimen was favoured for
exhibition. Collections were for display. A specimen that could not be seen
in a gallery by a visitor was a useless specimen. The concept of separate
storage for scientific specimens is very much a modern one 1 . This
approach did have one advantage— properly built display cabinets were
air-tight and excluded dust and insects. Since (he only other form of
storage was boxes and chests that gave little protection those specimens
on display tended to be better preserved than those that were stored.

A consequence of the policy of displaying ail specimens was the
redundancy of duplicates. Museums had space only for one example oi
each species, or, at most, one of each sex if the sexes differed. The extras
became duplicates and these were mostly used for exchanges. Thus, there
was no museum policy to obtain all the material that passed by, nor indeed
could the museum have afforded to purchase it all. It was only in the late
19th century when many specimens were needed for the study of
geographic variation and the designation of subspecies that the importance
of replicates was recognised e ,

152

There was another consequence of mid-19th century museum display
philosophy that had unfortunate implications for serious studies of the
fauna. The labels on the specimens were designed to inform the viewer.
They usually gave the name of the species and where it had been found,
but there was no information on habitat, season, habits, predators, and
colour and other characteristics that were destroyed by preservation.

The following example is typical of the labels of those days:

THE PUNISHMENT OF RAPACITY.

This remarkable example of the omnivorous appetite of the Varanus
varius, or Lace Monitor, was found in the Kynuna District and
donated by Mr W. Higgins. In endeavouring to swallow the well-
protected Tachyglossus aculeatus — popularly known under the
names "Native Porcupine", "Spiny Anteater", and "Echidna" - the
Goanna or Monitor attempted too much and both succumbed in the
struggle.

The exhibit is shown as found.

A decorative piece from a Victorian
drawing room. It was owned by the late
J.M. Bauman of Bauman's Gun Shop,
Elizabeth St.. Brisbane and was donated
to the museum by his daughter. Mrs
Betty Harris, of Newmarket, Brisbane.

153

Qurrnslanb ©tisimni.

(

<• tt*}rr/-7i<!

(j imt.

/) ^ f P <3)

1 i ji &

' f c>n 7

/ /. hi -to

&&. a if. ~

Kendall Broadbent's first contract with
the Queensland Museum.

a, m

Perhaps as a result of the emphasis on display the necessity for
keeping other data was often overlooked. In the inventory prepared for the
museum board in 1876 the only particulars listed were the species' names
and how many of each were held. The collections of the infant Queensland
Museum being set up by the Philosophical Society suffered from all the
consequences of the contemporary museum display philosophy and
accordingly their long term scientific value was impaired. In the young
Queensland Museum the scientifically inclined had to stand toe-to-toe
with members of the public to view the collections. Until the collections
started to overrun the display facilities every effort was made to exhibit
all the museum's specimens.

However, even in the mid- 19th century, the men associated with the
foundation of the museum recognized the scientific significance of the
specimens they were collecting and much of the material was the basis for
contemporary investigations rather than being used merely for displays of
curious objects. Outstanding amongst these men were Charles Coxen and
Silvester Diggles— both first and foremost ornithologists.

Coxen, to whom we owe the foundation of the museum and the
government's eventual commitment to it, had come to Australia in 1833
to collect bird specimens for the London Zoological Society, of which his
brother-in-law John Gould was the secretary 7 . Although Coxen later
settled in Queensland much of his material was still sent back to Gould or

154

to the Australian Museum in Sydney. He was also an intermediary for the
purchase of collections for John Gould. For example, the Collection of birds
made by John Jardine at Somerset passed through his hands™ Gould had
close ries both with Coxen and his brother Stephen (see Appendix 1),
Thus, although he made only one visit to Australia and did most 01 ;
work in England his publications did find their way to Queensland, and
Gould's Birds of Australia was one of the first accessions to the museum
library. It was purchased from Coxen's widow in 1876. Coxen himself was
a skilled taxidermist and helped lay out birds in the display cabinets Era
the Philosophical Society's museum* 1 ", ft was thus, to some extent a! least,
through Coxen that a tradition oi ornithological studied and some skill in
bird taxidermy existed in Queensland from an early date- However, unlike
Diggles. his influence was largely indirect and he did not contribute very
much to the body of indigenous si ienfific literature himself.

Silvester Diggles, like Coxen, was a founding member of the
Philosophical Society- He was to become an important figure in Australian
ornithology and he made a significant contribution to indigenous studies
on birds. He was born m Liverpool, England, in 1817, and sailed for
Australia with his femUy ill 1853, In 1854 he settled in Brisbane wK
taught art and music, repaired musical instruments and hired out pianos*.
As well as being a member of the Philosophical Society, he helped found
the Brisbane Choral Society and the Brisbane Philharmonic Society 11 ,
Diggles was interested in insects as well as birds and often gave papers
and exhibited specimens at Philosophical Society meetings. He donated
many specimens to the Philosophical Society's museum and was one of its
two curators iVorn 1869 i.o 1877 ,J . However, by 1373 most of the Society's
collections had been handed over to the government and il
probable that Diggles may have helped Coxen, the honorary curator
and the new custodian, Karl Slaiger (see Chapter 3),

Diggles' major work was the OrtiitMogy of Australia — an
encyclopaedia of Australian birds u> . Diggles himself published two-thirds
of this work in 21 pails, which were issued to subscribers. Then he ran out
ol" money*, His fellow musicians held a benefit raising 1 1 16 which enabled
him to reissue the first 21 parts in two volumes as a Companion to Gould'*
Handbook. However, he was not able to publish the last third of hi
The Ornithology was not successful financially and ult he ran into

difficulties. Thus, although he had intended to donate his private
collections to the Queensland Museum he was not able to do so. The
museum bought: his original lithographs and part of his bird collection
from the taxidermist Eli Waller

The first vertebrate to be described as a new species from the
museum's collections bad been pure ' the museum by Coxen u ,

apparently from Eli Waller, who had a taxidermy shop in Edward Street,
Brisbane 7 . It was a parrot— Aprosmidus nisignissimus. John Gould in 1875
announced the new bird to the world l \ Gould had first seen a painting oi it

and exciredly asked for the specimen; and ' through the kindness of the

authorities of the new Zoological Museum at Brisbane. I have received the
actual specimen '* The specimen was collected north of Dalby in 1874.

id was impressed with this 'splendid parrot' and illustrated it in his
Birds of New Guinea. Unfortunately, in later years it was discovered that
the bird was not a species, The specimen was a hybrid of the King Parrot
and the Red- winged Parrot. The specimen was returned to the museum
and, as late as 11)22 it could he seen on display*. Later il disappeared —
probably destroyed in the dean up of 1946 (see Chapter 4).

V it ( Ufiff* y

fH *//-*«./,<*- /«c« /♦, t~f. j f4ar
p *»•*-• 4g**«m .-<—*/ "t*&*>±cL. «*'

** U*+~t , „ f-Z, * ^ — £l . tci AJ^^

■*~*^*< *"* fi ■* ■) ■»» iHj *i£*-^T
U- | ^»«-^ iVw-m -++1 +*+-**<*• ■— "■

% "*tr>~+*<~ t J €*--**/£ J£_

i i rum Rruadtienl s diary:
■ |!rng id j lerrur in this
country.... rocks and precipices thrown
her in beautiUii ojiiIumuu'

The Golden Bowerbird. Pntmmiuns

ttt-ifinnsann, S I ■'■■ I* 0\ ' k

most beaiuUul ofbirds.

A year later Diggles discovered two new birds .munigsi ;i collection
of birds from Normanton. They had been sent to the museum by Tom
Gulliver' 7 . Gulliver worked for the Telegraph Department and was
employed on the erection of the telegraph line to Cape York 7 . Gulliver's
collection was never displayed. In the 1876 inventory there is a note that

specimens were at Coxeris residence and Qi probably

the material returned after Ins death. Diggles' two new birds,
however, were not new. They had been discovered and named elsewhere.
This was not to be the last time this happened to Diggles. Of the 14 new
birds he described in his lifetime none was really new, He realised thai
this would always be a possibility without comparative material and the
relevant literature' However, thai was not the reason on one occasion for
he was the victim of a fraud. In 1873 and 1874 he presented papers to the
Philosophical Society, bringing to its notice six new species or birds 1 "*— a
notable achievement by any standard. They had been collected by one
John T. Cockerell, a master mariner, and Diggles believed them to be from
Cape York. Thes«r birds —a kite, a rail, two bitterns, and two kingfishers —
were indeed new to Australia but they were not new to science. They
were actually well known species from the Aru Islands in what is now
Indonesia. The fraud was not discovered until after Diggles' death' 7 .

Cockerell did not donate his supposedly Cape York specimens to the
Philosophical Society. He sent his bird skins to the natural history dealer
IV Edmund Higgins to be sold in London 7 , The 1394 birds were purchased
by Frederick Godman who presented them to the British Museum in 188L
Godman had bought the collection because it supposedly contained the six
new species that Diggles had described. However, Diggles had not
contributed to science. He had contributed to making Cockerell's collection
worth money— -Use Cockerell. In the paper of 1874, Diggles gave some
extraordinary information about the habitats ot the Albert Lyrebird, but
this was also based on erroneous data given to him by Cockerell.

Alter its formation in 1876 the first museum board of trustees
instigated a policy of purchase and exchange o( collections. Because the
board's policy determined that the representation of species should be
complete, most of Ihe collections obtained by exchange were from foreign
countries. Donations accounted for the bulk of the early local material,
although some was purchased. Eventually the rate of accession of material
outstripped facilities for display

The limited space afforded by the present temporary building being
altogether inadequate for the exhibition of the collections already in
the hands of the Trustees, they have been compelled to pack up and
Store onion Of these specimens which would not suffer

material injury thereby; bur notwithstanding this, the Museum is
inconveniently crowded with exhibits, especially in the department
Of N. tory. the perishable nature of the specimens

necessitating constant care and inspection: while from the same
cause, it has been necessary to restrict additions to such of the rarer
objects as might not be easily obtainable at a future date, when
may be more available Space for exhibition B .

Even with a new building and a taxidermist the trustees would not
be able to display every specimen in the collections. Specimens had to be
tucked away in alternative storage. Many would rarely see the light of day
until a century later.

In 1880 the local press carried accusations that a considerable numbei
of specimens had gone astray at the museum'". These accusations were
accredited to the same J.T. Cockerell who had misrepresented his Aru

156

Island collection of birds to Diggles 7 Apparently the trustees had hired
Cockerel] to arrange birds hi the new building— In the minutes Of the
board meeting of 19 February 1880 it is nored that Cockerel! had been paid
£10.6.0 for his work. Haswell, the curator, dismissed the charges as
untrue**. In retrospect we can see that Haswell was wrong— at least in
regard to the bird specimens. Between 1876 when the first inventory was
completed, and sometime in the lS8()s when de Vis compiled the card
index of holdings of birds, a considerable number of birds disappeared.
One of the specimens thai vanished was a Night Parrot. This bird has
always been extremels rare — only a handful o\ specimens were ever
collected. Thus they are easy to trace. In the British Museum (Natural
History), acquired in the infamous collection purchased by Frederick
Godman, there is a specimen collected by J.T. Cockerell supposedly from
Western Australia. It has been suggested that the information for the
specimen was probably incorrect and that Cockerel] possibly purchased qr
exchanged it from Frederick Andrews in South Australia '. Thi
alternative explanation— this could be the missing specimen from the
Queensland Museum. There me many coincidences between species and
numbers of specimens that are missing from the museum and those that
were in ihe collection of Cockerel! purchased by Godman. Cockerell
appears to have been covering his tracks by spreading rumours of losses
from the museum collections during its mavft

The Collectors and de Vis 1882-191 1

In 1882 Charles de Vis was appointed curator. He was an experienced
museum worker having held the position >>t curator of Queen's Park
Museum. Manchester. Since coming to Australia he had contributed
natural history notes to the Qnemslander under the pseudonym of
Thickthorn'". de Vis' training, however, had been for the Anglican Church.
In his early days, he was the typical clerygman-natural historian and very
much a part of the natural theological movement:

If the love and discrimination of the beautiful be humanising - if
ever wi eek to elevate the mental horizon of the

governed by bringing the eye into < ithi h no ptionsofthe

painter and sculptor — surely the pencil and chisel of nature working
ieix happiest moods must stir within the most grovelling mind ils

latent admiration of the ideal, and wean it from those gi i
i iti ' ich are ultimately pernicious, il" not fatal. I

Latet he waa a supporter of the theory of evolution y .

de Vis was a prodigious worker and was at the museum for about nir_f
hours a day every day of the week' 1 . From 1S82 to 1911 he wrote 136
scientific papers and contributed about 120 articles to newspapers. He
described 371 new icUfil vertebrates. These were 173 sp<

of fish, seven species ol frogs, 70 species of reptiles, 107 species of hirds,
and 14 species of mammals. With his death in 1915 he left behind several
unpublished papers and books, Not all de Vis new species were so, but
about two-thirds are presently regarded as valid.

de Vis worked on collections and specimens that came into the
museum— he did not collect himself. In this he was a closet naturalist and
not a field worker 1 . The field work was done by others. Of the many
collectors of zoological material Kendall Broadbent and Sir William
MacGcegor were of particular importance to the museum during d-'
time.

In 1882 Broadbent was appointed zoological collector for the museum.
During his employment he collected vertebrates at Cardwell and Tully

de Vis found this new specie -
spectacular Spiny Skink, Trojridopharus
fiurrn-tlandiac, amongst a collection from
: [l live i in the moist, dark
litter of the rainforest.

15^

Broadbent to de Vis: 'I have the honour

to report Mr. E.P. Ramsays collectors

are in the district so I am informed '.

(1882), Charleville (1883), Cape York, Murray Island, and the Gulf of
Carpentaria (1883-4), Rockhampton and Cardwell (1888), and Bellenden
Ker Range and Herberton (1889). de Vis described many new species from
the specimens Broadbent collected — the most notable was the Golden
Bowerbird Prionodura newtoniana. The specimen was collected at the
Tully River Scrubs in 1882^. In his description de Vis apologised for the

( 9***f -

Cusia/o-T &*+*£***4& ***** rPf

44SLC4<4<*-n

e^ts?

SU^&U- . /&£*£- tt>£t*t jf**** ^^^^C^

&a^A^cj tPfftt/e tit* tlt&r w*J^

i^Cf-ur^ tertrft £*£&, fc+trf & *&4tfctJia£r~

uM frfo^j^rt*^* TtT/s it**** %* j *^

fit* 4? ?*&* /t*c*^*£~< tbar 6a£e^^k^^

158

plainness of the species but he did not realise that the specimen was a
female or an immature. This specimen was stolen from a show case in
1888 *. In 1889 he received a beautiful golden male from Bellenden Ker
collected by Archibald Meston. de Vis thought it was a new species and
did not at first connect the specimen with the bowerbird he had described
earlier. It was announced in the newspaper 27 that a brilliant golden
bowerbird, new to science, was to be described as Corymbicola mestoni.
Before de Vis could formally publish the description Broadbent informed
de Vis that the bird was just a male oiPrionodura newtoniana.

As a result of the economic depression of the 1890s the museum could
not afford the luxury of a zoological collector after 1893 and the supply of

SW4SV* /L*C£A***£j{ l<£^£^* ^i>^/ ^^f dr ^ jS ^^-» The ageing and much-loved Kendall

/£ £>£**/-, A*&£** ££^*^ f4tAA*U^~

yA( j#£v /u*4^t A^/^ /%***- m

Broadbent.

(y.

p^t

Cslc /^c^~ W

159

Broadbent discovered the Golden
Bower-bird, Prionodura newtmuana, in
the Tully River rainforest and, al a later
date, he collected more near Herberton
and at Bellenden Ker. He sent this
drawing of two of the bowers to de Vis.
who described the species— although the
type cannot be traced in the study skin
collection.

\A-Cv*i&.

JfoL

^ r vet*** pLll4sl<u+£; u*tf£:

^ IM&XZ <P+t^ c^ot

Broadbent's writing was on this
photograph of a display that Spalding
probably mounted. It was exhibited until
replaced with the new dioramas in the
1970s.

160

specimens ceased. William MacGregor the administrator, and later
lieutenant-governor, of British New Guinea ensured a supply of foreign
vertebrate specimens for de Vis to study, de Vis discovered many
novelties amongst the more than 3000 specimens — mostly birds— that
MacGregor collected during his stay in New Guinea. The collection was
technically the property of the British New Guinea government, later the
Papuan New Guinea government, and, like the anthropological collection
that MacGregor made, the major part of the it was held in trust for the
Papua New Guinea Government (see Chapter 10). It received little
attention for nearly 80 years after de Vis' work, for after 1893 the museum
suffered from shortages of staff and funds that were not redressed until
the early 1960s.

One of the effects of the depression on the museum was to inhibit its
ability to exhibit every specimen in its collection. There just were not the
taxidermists to keep pace with the inflow of specimens; nor was there the
floor space to exhibit them. Those that could not be displayed were stored
away, often crammed into the little space available for alternative storage.
The museum was, in fact, building up a research collection by default. The
concept of research collections separate from display material was then
coming into vogue in Europe. It was a reversal of the policy of trying to
exhibit every object in the collection 1 . This change in philosophy may have
resulted, at least in part, from the recognition of the importance of
intraspecific variations in natural selection, following the publication of
Darwin's Origin of Species in 1859. This was the subject that now excited
naturalists, and instead of a single specimen now representing a species,
they needed a whole range of specimens— the more the better— for their
investigations. The hypothesis of natural selection had a profound effect
not only on the course of natural science but also on the value of museum
collections that had been made up to that time. With the recognition of the
fact of intraspecific variation there arose the necessity to identify the
actual specimens used to describe the species. These specimens became
known as the type specimen or specimens— the name bearers of species.
They are the standard for the species against which other specimens can
be assessed. They remove the uncertainties that arise through ambiguity
or inadequacy in descriptions; and they serve as the point of reference
from which old descriptions can be updated, by applying new techniques of
investigation and new perspectives to the type. Type specimens are now—
and had become by the beginning of the 20th century —the most precious
part of a museum's holdings— for they are unique and irreplaceable.

Unfortunately in the Queensland Museum, the habit of displaying
every specimen and dispensing with duplicates resulted in collections of
unique specimens, many of which were, indeed, types specimens of the
many species that de Vis described. However, the original label was often
lost and the data about each specimen were often lean, and sometimes
entirely lacking. It is fortunate from this point of view that MacGregor
steadfastly refused permission for the museum to exchange duplicates of
his collection, de Vis adhered faithfully to MacGregor's conditions and
thus the museum has one of the largest and most comprehensive
collections in the world from Papua New Guinea. The board minutes for 4
May 1894 record that the British Museum requested some of the
duplicates from New Guinea. It was refused of course, de Vis tartly
commenting that for some years the museum had hoped for a share of the
British Museum's annual distribution of duplicates too— apparently it had
hoped in vain. Subsequently only two specimens from the MacGregor

A Bird of Paradise, Paradisea raggiana,
collected by Sir William MacGregor in
Papua New Guinea in 1894.

161

collection were presented to the British Museum by the Queensland

Museum \

The Long Middle Years 1911-1946

de Vis, some time in the 1880s, had started a card catalogue for birds.
His system, however, was unwieldly. It was open-ended, for each
specimen received a unique label under the name of the species with a
letter of the alphabet. The difficulties become apparent if the name of the
species is changed, or if some specimen is found to be misidentified, In
1911 the new director, Ronald Hamlyn-Harris, instigated a modern system
of data storage and retrieval for research collections. Each specimen was,
from that time, to receive a unique number as a label. All the information
known about the specimen was entered in a register under that number.
The task of registering the backlog of unnumbered museum specimens,
however, was beyond the means of Hamlyn-Harris' small staff. In the
vertebrates, most of this registration was not done until the 1970s and
1980s.

Between 1911 and 1946 not many specimens were added to the
museum's collections and there was little research conducted on
vertebrates. The exceptions were some papers on reptiles by Heber
Longman, and more importantly, the work on fish by James Ogilby. Ogilby
was hired for a short period by the museum in 1901, but was dismissed for
his 'extreme and undiscriminating affinity for alcohol' 28 . From 1905 to 1912,
he was honorary curator for the Amateur Fishermen's Association of
Queensland. In 1912 he was re-employed by the museum, and in 1913 the
Amateur Fishermen's Association handed over all their type material of
vertebrates to the museum. While in the museum between 1912 and 1920
Ogilby published 22 papers and described several new species of fish. He
died in 1025®.

The type specimen of a new genus and species of turtle, Devisia
mythodes, that Ogilby named in honour of Charles de Vis in 1907 ",
illustrates the problems with labelling of some of the specimens in the
museum. The type specimen appeared to have been collected by Sir
William MacGregor in New Guinea, In 1947, the specimen was examined
and found to be a specimen of Chelydra serpentina, the American Snapping
Turtle- 1 '. This species does not occur in New Guinea. Someone slipped up
somewhere.

The Taipan, Oxyuranus saUellatus
(Peters 1867), is Australia's largest
venomous snake and undoubtedly its
moat dangerous species. It occurs in
northern Western Australia and the
Northern Territory, on Cape York
Peninsula, and in coastal Queensland -
eastof the main nu

162

During the 1920s and 1930s scientific work was at a low ebb, not only
in Queensland but also in the rest of Australia. In Queensland Director
Longman tried to compensate for this by helping individuals and
institutions from other countries to pursue investigations in the state (see
Chapter 3). However, in other parts of Australia some serious opposition
to the continuing depredations being made on the Australian fauna by
foreign institutions had developed It was not only the old anxiety
connected with the removal of type specimens that prompted this
opposition, it was also a concern that local scientists, without resources to
collect widely, could not compete with their overseas counterparts. Ellis
Troughton, ebullient curator of mammals in the Australian Museum was in
the vanguard of this opposition''". He was especially sensitive about the
large collections of mammals being shipped to New York by Richard
Archbold, the wealthy benefactor who financed and led a whole series of
collecting expeditions to Papua New Guinea and northern Queensland
through the 1930s and 1940s for the American Museum of Natural
History ' Xi . According to Troughton, the material collected was being used
by the American museum's mammalogist, G.rL Tate, to settle 'our mammal
question Vt \ Troughton was opposed to any idea that Archbold's and
others' olvaginous dollars be given full play m New Guinea or on the
mainland'* and he claimed to have initiated, with his institution's support,
the action —

which led to the gazettal of restrictions on all foreign collectors in
the (Australian) Territories— and had written to the Minister for
Customs asking that the regulation re return ol types and examples
of rarities to the appropriate State oi Commonwealth Museum be
mcluded in (collecting) permit

At about this time a young German zoologist, Dr Gabriele Neuhauser,
arrived in Australia. Being Jewish, she could not work in Germany and for
two years had been in Asia Minor earning her living as a collector of
rodents and other small mammals. She brought with her a letter of
introduction from Gregory Mathews in England 7 c , and she had made
contact with Tate, who wrote to Troughton asking him to help her to obtain
permits to collect in Australia for Archbold 34 , Troughton made his oavd
personal — and chauvinistic— view very clear to Longman:

one naturally found it difficult to t>e too discouraging *■> a woman's
plans, but I certainly had no intention ol furthering Tate's egotistical
scheme 14 .

However, although Troughton believed that the federal government
would impose restrictions in permits issued for collecting in the Northern
Territory, he could not be so sure about what would happen in
Queensland;

as Dr Neuhauser will be disposing of the collections of mammaK 1 1
Archbold, it may be necessary for the State authorities to make some
provision which will be binding on the institutions eventually
receiving the collections, and 1 do hope you will be able to devise
something in Queensland where she first promises to collect™.

Troughton went on to suggest that she be permitted to take up to 12
pairs of each mammalian species — 10 pairs for Archbold and a pair for the
Queensland Museum, He may have been hoping that the twelfth pair
would be given to the Australian Museum but appears to have thought it
indelicate to actually suggest this.

Longman provided all the assistance to Neuhauser that Troughton
had denied her- The permit that he obtained for her imposed restrictions

Acrobates pygmacus, frutn Deception Bay,
on a Grnnflio banksii.

163

The museum truck aboard MV Goori
going to Fraser Island in the 1960s.

on numbers of specimens only in respect of protected species — koalas,
platypus and tree kangaroos 36 . It did not include any provision for
representative specimens to be retained by the museum, nor indeed
had Longman recommended that it should — for he was not expecting
Neuhauser to perform as an honorary collector for the museum. He did
arrange to purchase specimens from her, and others were exchanged for
various services such as repacking specimens and making crates to
despatch her collections overseas 37 . Longman was concerned about the
implications of type material being removed from Australia. To that extent,
at least, he agreed with Troughton. However, his recommendation that
some provision requiring return of types be included in the permit was
ignored 38 , so he wrote to Tate at the American Museum of Natural
History:

You will be interested to hear that Dr Gabriele Neuhauser has left
for western Queensland en route for northern Queensland. I was
able to help her with permits etc., on the definite understanding that
paratypical specimens of any new species of mammals sent abroad
would be returned to the Queensland Museum. Doubtless you will
honour this undertaking fully in the circumstances 39 .

Tate replied that the suggestion was 'eminently reasonable' 40 .

Thus, all was settled amicably— although Troughton probably was
not satisfied and may have felt that Longman was being altogether too
cooperative. Longman wrote, gently chiding him:

You will be interested to hear that Dr Gabriele Neuhauser left last
Thursday with Mr J. Edgar Young, one of our honorary collectors. As
she is unfamiliar with local conditions this arrangement is advisable.
We hope to secure a representative series of specimens from her
collecting, but I am not sure whether Mr Young will accompany her

for more than a few months In any case, paratypical specimens

are to be returned to the Queensland Museum, should she obtain
new mammals.

Whilst I am naturally anxious to see all possible work on our fauna
carried out by local institutions and specialists, I do not see that we
are justified in attempting to make Australia a strictly reserved area
in which overseas collectors should be deterred from working.

As a matter of fact we have received many specimens from the
British Museum from the series collected by Wilkins and by Sherrin,
and we also had some of Raven's specimens.

And when I write to my friend Troughton in the Australian Museum,
I cannot get a single specimen of Rattus culmorum although I
advised, in the first place, that the material should be sent to him, as
a specialist!

I hope that you will be able to arrange for a series of exchanges with
Tate. Unfortunately we have so little to offer that we cannot expect
Papuan and Pacific species, but I do hope that you will obtain a
representative series 41 .

Despite all the assistance she was getting, Neuhauser found it
difficult. She was pleased and relieved, when Professor Neumann at the
Museum fur Naturkunde, in Berlin, wanted her to send birds —

because the mammals here could not cover my expenses 42 .

Even so, it was a blow to her when, early in 1938, the government
imposed a royalty on restricted species— from five shillings per possum
skin up to 10 shillings for a kookaburra 43 .

Both Neuhauser and the museums she was supplying benefited from
Longman's assistance in the packing and despatching of her specimens,
and her correspondence with Longman probably helped to dispel some of

164

The museum acquired its first vehicle —
a 14 h.p. Commer truck— in 1950. It was
used principally for field work. It is
photographed here in 1954 at a campsite
near Chinchilla, on the Condamine River.

By the 1960s the museum's collecting
expeditions were ranging widely through
the state. Left: the museum truck near
Johansens Caves, 16 miles N of
Rockhampton; lower left: at the Annan
River, 20 miles south of Cooktown.

165

the sense of isolation she must have experienced. For the Queensland
Museum it was almost as if it had a collector in the field again.

Longman to Neuhauser:

I think that the Pseudochirus obtained by you at Mt. Spurgeon is
probably the original P. peregrinus Boddaert, collected by Banks. We
had another skin received last year. This is a most interesting

discovery I am hoping that you will be able to get two or three

specimens of Dendrolagus bennettianus for us 44 .

Neuhauser replied —

I sent you from Spurgeon one specimen of each, P. peregrinus, and P.
laniginosus. P. laniginosus is smaller, has much longer ears, and lives
in the open forest, togethr with Trichosurus. (P.) peregrinus lives in

the thick scrub I got one specimen of P. laniginosus from here

(Coen), much darker and not so much white on the tail, while the
Spurgeon specimens did not vary at all. There seems to be some
confusion about the two species, as P. laniginosus is only mentioned
in the books for south Queensland, and the P. peregrinus description

could as well mean the 1 from here I do not know, if I ever have a

chance, of getting Dendrolagus bennettianus. The tree-kangaroos did
certainly not fly from New Guinea to the Daintree River, so it is
quite likely, that they are in Cape York 45 .

Longman to Neuhauser:

I hope that you have got additional specimens of the Ps. laniginosus
and peregrinus type. A copy of our Royal Society Abstract for the last
meeting is enclosed, and you will see that I exhibited these

specimens We are still hoping for specimens of Den. bennettianus,

and it would be splendid to get some from further north than the
Bloomfield 46 .

Neuhauser replied —

Did you know, that there are 2 different kinds of Cuscus in Cape
York? the one I sent you, with naked inside of ears is not maculatus,
which is the more common form here. What is the Latin name for
both kinds? I think, the Pseudomys must be quite interesting too, and
I would like to know her name, if you can tell me 47 .

Ivor Filmer (left), general assistant in the
museum, helps McAnna unpack a
consignment of skins sent by Vernon
from Cape York in 1948.

166

Toward the end of 1938 Gabnele Neuhauser s brave and lonely travels
in northern Queensland came to an end when she married, becoming
Gabriele Scott She now lives in Queensland and is an honorary associate
of the museum,

Gabriele Neuhauser collected hundreds of birds for the Museum fur
Naturkunde. and mammals for the American Museum of Natural History.
and the Queensland Museum got a share of all she collected. Her
specimens were the only significant additions to the museum 's vertebrate
collections between 1893 and 1946. From the specimens of birds she
collected, Gregory Mathews and Professor Neumann described new forms
and new subspecies* 1 '.

The Modern Era 1946-1985

When George Mack became director in 1946 the institution had been
through more than half a Century of neglect. There had been one aftoH
period Of three or four years between 1911 and 1915 when there had been a
reasonable staff complement. However, for most of the 53 years from 1893
there had been a director and usually two preparators or collectors but
there had never been a professional scientific staff member responsible for
vertebrates (see Chapter 3). It was not very surprising, then, thai many old
mounts from the last century were in bad condition from insect attack,
were covered in layers of dust and had to be destroyed (see Chapter 1).
Although there was no information attached to them, many were
irreplaceable type specimens of birds and mammals. While it may have
been possible to identify some of the types by idiosyncratic features and
measurements given in the original description, the specimens were
damaged beyond any hope of retrieval. Mack instigated i he policy of
registering all display specimens so the unfortunate circumstance would
not happen again.

Mack then set about the collection of material— both for display, arid
to build up the research collection and restore some of the information
that had been lost. This was an unprecedented period of research and
collection. In 1948 Mack sent the young taxidermist, Donald Vernon, to
join the Archbold Expedition in Cape York Vl . During this four ntC
Vernon added many valuable specimens and Mack reported on them 30 .
From 1950 the size of the vertebrate collections increased several fold. Not
since the time of Broadbenl had the museum collected its own specimens
on such a scale. The single contributing factor to the change was motor
vehicles. In 1950 the museum obtained its first, a truck, and in the 1950s
and 1960s the preparators travelled around the state attempting to fill in
the gaps in the research collections (see Chapter 4). On one occasion, just
before Christmas 1947, the collecting was done closer to home. Vei
assisted by Filmer, went collecting from the museum roof. They got the
museum's first specimens of the Spotted Dove Streptopelia chinensis. A
couple of days later, Vernon 'potted* a starling and a sparrow r through the
workshop window

The collections stored in spirit were overhauled from 1964 to 1966
when Woods had become director. These were stored in large ceramic
urns and concrete tubs attached to the concrete floor. Many specimens
were found to be dehydrated or macerated and were destroyed.
Unfortunately, here too many types were lost, some inadvertently owing
to loss of labels.

With the appointment m 1967 of the first curator in vertebrates,
Jeanette Covacevich, many of the old problems of the unregistered backlog
and unidentified types were solved. She began a concerted effort to

A new bird is a very rare event. The
Eungella Honeyeater was dia

nomanc rainforesl near Maclcav and

d bv Lonpmore ajld Roles in

I I

167

Aian Easton, museum photographer
1965-84.

and amphibia and to research

and identify all the types of these groups. The results of her

work on the types were published in 1972 and 198T'- :t . In 1969

Sue Hoare was appointed curator of fishes and she also began to

identify the types. After she left the museum in 1970 the work was

continued by her successor, Roland McKay. The task was completed

in 1973. Vernon became ornithologist in 1970 and he began the

registration of the backlog of birds — and in 1984, with the help of

volunteers and the new assistant in ornithology, Wayne Longmore, the

task was completed by G. Ingram who also completed the work on the

types of birds held by the museum.

By 1983 the registers for the vertebrate sections contained over
100,000 records. The size of the data base made it difficult to operate by
hand. In that year the decision was made to computerize the records.
With the aid of grants from the Australian Biological Resources Survey in
Canberra, data entry began in 1984. By mid-1985 all the mammalian
records and three-quarters of the reptilian and amphibian records had
been entered.

From 1970, museum curators and their assistants systematically
surveyed and collected from rivers and from the waters of the continental
shelf as well as from desert, heath and montane rainforest habitats
throughout the state, and have contributed substantially to knowledge of
the biology and distribution of the vertebrates. Among the significant work
has been that of McKay on the commercially important whitings, grunters

168

\ \ % ♦ •*»

* i ' #»

The Small-scaled
Snake, Oxyuranus
microlepidotus (McCoy 1879),
photographed very much alive by
museum photographer, Alan Easton, in
1976. Known only from a handful of
museum specimens until the 1970s, live
specimens were first milked in 1975. Its
venom, the most toxic known, is twice as
toxic as that of the Common Brown, four
times as toxic as that of the Taipan, and
nine times as toxic as that of the Tiger
Snake. The species occurs in ashy downs
country of the Cooper Creek-Diamantina
drainage system.

and sweetlips; Ingram
on the lizards and the bizarre
and possibly extinct
gastric-brooding frog, Rheobatrachus situs; Czechura on the unusual skink
Nannoscincus graciloides; Covacevich on the highly toxic Small-scaled
Snake Oxyuranus microlepidotus; Ingram on the Plumed Frogmouth,
Podargus ocellatus; Longmore on the new species, the Eungella
Honeyeater; and Van Dyck and Archer on small carnivorous marsupials 54 .
The majority of the larger and more conspicuous of the vertebrates of
the state now have been described and their habitats recorded. For this
reason, it is probable that, in the future, some of the museum resources
and staff previously dedicated to studies of vertebrates will be diverted to

169

tackle those groups of organisms that are less known and more in need of
documentation. Despite this, the vertebrate collections will continue to be
an irreplaceable archive. With the application of new techniques for
registration and preservation, new approaches to display and vastly-
improved storage facilities and retrieval systems, the use of the archive
will be enhanced. Further, bird and mammal reference collections assume
special importance in the 1980s, for it is becoming extremely difficult to
augment them. Natural areas are diminishing and there are stringent
regulations under fauna protection legislation that, for conservation
reasons, preclude collecting. Nevertheless, with the upsurge of interest in
the environment, interest in the vertebrates, which flourished in the late
19th century, has never been higher than it is today.

The Black Mountain Skink, Qirlia
scirtetis, is an inhabitant of the bare
boulder mountains near Cooktown. It
was describe tied by Ingram and

Covacevich in 1980.

3|-m

Antechinus lea occurs only in the
vineforests of Iron Range-McLlwraith
Range on Cape York Peninsula. It was
collected during revisionary work on
small carnivorous marsupials and was
described in 1980.

M^^H , ' V - ''■

170

The Platypus Frog, Rheobatrachus silus,

created u sensation in the scientific
world. The female carries her young in
her stomach. The young have a secretion
thai protects them from their mother's
digestive juices.

171

Silvester Diggles, honorary curator of the
Queensland Philosophical Society 1869-
71.

Previous page: the Cooloola Monster,
Cooloola propator Rentz, 1980, the type
species of the Cooloolidae, a new family
of the Orthoptera, found in 1975 by
a museum party (drawing by S.P. Kim.
from Rentz, 1980 *»).

Two environments on earth are noted for the diversity and
spectacular form of their invertebrates— coral reefs and
rainforests. Queensland has the lion's share of Australia's
rainforests and the largest coral reef system in the world, as
well as a wealth of other habitats. The museum's role in
investigating and documenting these rich invertebrate faunas is well
recognised in 1986— but it has not always been so. The development of a
tradition of invertebrate studies has been a slow and sometimes painful
process — a struggle to build collections of significance when interstate and
overseas museums had collected widely in Queensland and its waters
before the museum was on its feet; and a struggle to bring invertebrate
studies out from the shadow of vertebrate palaeontology with its public
appeal and with the institution's reputation for such studies already firmly
established.

The utilitarian role that geological collections could fill in allowing
prospectors and miners to identify their ore samples was a powerful force
in the establishment of the museum (see Chapters 3, 6). In contrast the
biological collections began to accumulate through the more idealistic
enterprises of the 'gentleman collectors' of the Queensland Philosophical
Society. To the Victorian gentleman of that inclination his cabinet of '
specimens had several social functions — a conversation piece, an aesthetic
display, a medium of exchange and communication with his
correspondents elsewhere, a hobby that could dispel the boredom of long,
slow bush travel, and for some, a means of serious scientific endeavour.
Certain groups of animals found favour in the private collections of this
era. Criteria for acceptability included intrinsic appeal of colour and form,
ease of preservation and small size. Shells and insects fit these criteria
admirably so it is no surprise that these are most frequently mentioned in
references to the earliest informal collections brought together by the
Philosophical Society. It was these collections that were to come under the
official control of the honorary curator, Charles Coxen, in 1871 and
ultimately the first board of trustees in 1876.

There is little to indicate the size and nature of the invertebrate
holdings when Karl Staiger became custodian in 1873. He reported to the
Hon. W.H.Walsh on 2 June 1873 that the collection contained 'a small
collection of insects and shells none of which I found named' l . However,
only three years later, at its second meeting, the newly appointed board of
trustees, having recognized the urgency of assessing the collections under
its charge, set about the preparation of an inventory which duly listed
about 4,000 insects, 5,000 molluscs, a modest number of crustaceans, and
a few annelids, corals and sponges.

The preponderance of insects and molluscs probably reflects the
interests of the two most active contributors to the embryonic museum —
Charles Coxen and Silvester Diggles. Although both were primarily
ornithologists, Diggles was also interested in entomology, and Coxen, with
his wife Elizabeth, had shell collections that later came to the museum.

Because they are conspicuous in Queensland, and because they
affected agricultural endeavours of the colonists, insects, as well as
forming attractive displays in show cases, continued as the invertebrate
group that was given most attention in the museum from the time of its
foundation until only relatively recently. Molluscs came a very poor
second. Other invertebrate groups were to wait a long time before they
were studied and many remain almost unknown to this day.

174

Insects

In addition to Silvester Diggles. the most conspicuous amongst
those who have contributed to and worked un the insect collections in the
Queensland Museum up to 1940 were W.H. Miskin, Henry Try.
CJ. Wild, Henry Hacker, AA Girault and A.J. Turner.

Silvester Diggles was a musician and artist who settled in Brisbane
in 1854. He is regarded as Queensland's pioneer entomologist^, exhibiting
oh en at the Philosophical Society's meetings on insect topics, sending
many specimens to taxonomists around the world for description, and
maintaining meticulous sketchbooks of the insect life histories he worked
out. The butterfly Hypochrysops digglesii and the rare chafer beetle
'Lapmiosdwma digglest are among the species that bear his name.

In 1863 the Philosophical Society bought one of the largest and best
private collections of insects in the colonies' for £1S from a Mr Salting of
Sydney \ This comprised two cabinets and they were rearranged by
Diggles who, in 1871 claimed that 'the curatorship in great part devolves
on me'-. He was then one of the two curators of the society's collections,
but at this stage these were being handed over to the government
museum of which Coxen was honorary curator (see Chapter 3). He
regularly supplemented the society's museum collection with specimens
from his own. The latter comprised a cabinet of Australian Lepidoptera
and Coieoptera and some foreign beetles. His collection was potentially of
great long term value because it contained duplies my of the

species sent to be described elsewhere. In 1877 the board of trustees
declined his offer to sell it to the museum for £250 for the Australian
cabinet and £102.9.4 for the foreign material 4 . After his death in 1880 his
widow offered it to the museum for £100, the collection being then in
Melbourne after having been recently exhibited in Sydney and Melbourne.
Trustee Miskin had misgivings about its condition after such travels and
the board delayed a decision on the offer'. Meanwhile, it was sold
elsewhere— a great loss to Queensland.

Miskin's association with the museum began when he was
appointed to the first board of trustees in 1876. Coxen and Miskin, the
biologically inclined trustees, had been appointed to help Chairman A.C.
Gregory prepare the inventory of the collection. As Coxen had died
soon after, the weight of this task probably fell on Miskin. It was one of his
first tasks and he probably relished it, for he was a consistent attender at
board meetings and clearly the security and care of the collections were of
great concern to him (see Chapter 14).

Trustee Miskin was an amateur lepidopterist, publishing a small
series of fine papers between 1874 and 1B92*. He described butterflies
collected by museum collector CJ. Wild in the Cairns area but for some
reason always misspelt Wild's name, a fact to which the uncommon
oakblue butterfly, Arhopala wildei, is permanent testament. He also has the
distinction of having described, in 1876, the moth with the largest wing
area in the world, the north Queensland Coscinocem Hercules — its types
reside in the museum 7 . Miskin's most important work was his Synonynuca}
Catalogue of the Australian butterflies which occupied pride of place as the
first paper (93 pp.) in the first volume of the Annals of the Queensland
Museum in 1891 Its preface made a challenge that sounded as though a
particular person was involved:

Rainforest- one of the most dr

n earl h — in southeast
land, Ml Cordesux [pbui

Ml Tan ■■■

I declare myself an uncompromising opponent of the Bp>-

makers still worse it is. when persons entirely ignorant of thr

literature of the subject, from a mere desire to haVe thru names

appear in type, recklessly publish descriptions of allegedly new
species 8 .

That person may have been T.P. Lucas, a Brisbane physician, who was
concurrently describing butterflies, and who had applied for a position as
entomologist at the museum in 1888 y . In 1889 Miskin had argued against
Lucas' access to the museum collection because of implications that he
was a dealer* 1 . Soon after, in April 1890, a controversy erupted within the
board when Lucas made unspecified allegations against Miskin in a letter
to the minister, and demanded an enquiry into the museum's
management 11 . The board rejected the idea of holding an enquiry, but
Miskin complained that its response to the allegations was 'too apologetic
and with too much explanatory detail' 12 . Miskin appears to have rejected
entomology soon after. Though only 50 when he resigned from the board
and left Brisbane in 1892, his wife sold his entire collection and library
(3 large cabinets, 4 small cabinets. 22 store boxes, 59 wall cases,
200 books) to the museum for £226, and Miskin never wrote on insects
again 13 . With the taxonomic hindsight of almost a century it is worth noting

Coral reefs abound along the Queensland
coast. Above: Heron Island and Us reef,
Great Barrier Reef; below: corals at
Heron Island {photograph by courtesy
D.K.Robertson).

176

that more of Miskin's new butterfly species have survived synonymy than
have those of T.P. Lucas.

After the short terms of W.A. Haswell and F.M. Bailey as curator and
acting curator, respectively, during the period 1879-1882, the eventual
appointment, in 1882, of C.W. de Vis— as curator — began a period of
development for the museum. Though the collections were already
growing through regular donations following public appeals by de Vis,the
first staff priority in the zoological area was for a field collector. Kendall
Broadbent, a bushman-naturalist of remarkable energy and independence,
first came to the board's notice through casual purchase of specimens from
him in 1880 (see Chapter 3). After a temporary appointment at £3 per week,
from May 1882 to March 1883, he was made full time in May 1883 w .
Though Broadbent's talents were principally in the vertebrate field, his
collections always included substantial invertebrate components,
particularly molluscs. His trip to Cardwell in 1882 yielded 'Lepidoptera,
Mollusca and other marine invertebrates' 15 ; from Cape York in 1884 he
collected '951 vertebrates and 1324 invertebrates' 16 . He joined the colourful
former parliamentarian, Archibald Meston, on his Bellenden Ker
expedition in 1889, and gained a small batch of insects reported on by
Henry Tryon and a more significant mollusc collection written up
by Charles Hedley 17 .

Broadbent was a field man and de Vis was a vertebrate specialist —
a clear need existed for someone who could take scientific charge of the
invertebrate collection. The fulfilment of that need in 1883 saw the
appointment of a man whose actions were to occupy more board
discussion than any other item for the next ten years, who was to go on to
a distinguished career in another government department, and whom a
posthumous biographer was to describe as 'an erudite and versatile

scientist with a brilliant brain, a sarcastic tongue and a cantankerous

nature' 18 . That man was Henry Tryon.

Born in England in 1856, Tryon was lured from his studies of
medicine by the call of natural history and adventure. After exploits in
Sweden retracing the footsteps of Linnaeus, he travelled to New Zealand
ostensibly to manage a grazing property for his father, but he explored
widely, making plant collections as he travelled. He came to Brisbane in
1882 with dreams of a future in the then embryonic sugar industry in
north Queensland 19 . He first appears in the records of the museum, in
September 1882, as the donor of '15 crabs, 7 fish, 8 shells, 3 starfish and
1 urchin from Stradbroke Island' 20 . Tryon soon used the museum as
headquarters for his natural history pursuits and began proselytizing and
collecting for the museum, as the following extracts from a letter from him
to de Vis, written from Mackay in December 1882, reveal:

I spent a few days at Inskip Point despatched from there a box

containing some bird skins, a few shells and plants. I called on the
Telegraphist, he had some nice sea snakes in pickle for you, to which

I added a few starfishes I told him to collect crabs which are very

plentiful those among the mangrove swamps being particularly

interesting. 1 made one excursion to the back of Tin Can Bay with a
party of blackfellows, but as I was walking from morning to night for

3 days did not find time to collect anything in Rockhampton called

at the School of Arts tried to impress (the librarian) with the

immediate necessity of sending you some specimens of snakes which
he had in possession in accordance with your admirable proposal re
formation of Local Museum.

From Rockhampton I started on foot for Port Mackay which I
reached in ten days after very arduous walking. Pedestrians are

Henry Tryon, clerical assistant 1883-4,
assistant curator 1885-93, government
entomologist Department of Agriculture
from 1894.

177

regarded as vagrants and despicable objects here, hence the cruel

inhospitality which I often experienced hence my motive for

hurrying aiong J walked from Broad Sound in stages of 35. 20, 20

and 50 (4.3) miles, and so you may conclude that I collected nothing.

I hove been offered the combined duties of "kanaka" driver and

accountant those occupations appear an end in themselves and

i nay very well grow old performing them. I feel very much
inclined to go to Sydney, where there are plenty of books and

■ ■ r >'-

1 left Mr Brown's spirit drum in Kockhampton to be forwarded to me
here, and will fill it as opportunity offers. If you have time and any
special desiderata 1 trust you will write to me quickly. You know 1
Like great interest in any new discoveries '

A bizarre now species of flat-bug

l Ai.ididut_\) !rum [he Gunge) la National

Park. These curiou ii ;are under
study Jt the museum (drawing by Sybil
Monleith).

He was soon back in Brisbane and his volunteer work for the museum
attracted special mention in the annual report for 1882. It continued on
many fronts in 1883. In January he volunteered to help Broad bent with
explorations of the rich fossil marsupial deposits on the Darling Downs.
After the museum received an exchange of 300 species of Coleoptera from
William Macleay in Sydney in February, the board noted, in May, that 'the
collection of Australian beetles has been receiving attention. In the course
of its arrangement about 500 species have been incorporated' —
undoubtedly Tryon's work-. His enterprise and enthusiasm led to the
recommendation, in September 1883, that he be employed for three
months as clerical assistant at £3 per week. This was at about the time
when Mrs Coxen ceased responsibility for the shell collections and Tryon
assumed at least (tefudu charge of all the invertebrate collections. By the
beginning of 1884 he was part of the permanent staff; nine months later he
requested and gained a substantial salary increase; tour months after he
gained approval to change his title to assistant curator.

At this time Tryon was the only entomologist in the Queensland
government service. The period also coincided with the introduction and
spread of many new agricultural crops— with the inevitable problem of
insect pests. Though a museum entomologist, the government turned to
Tryon us their only source of expert advice. He was commissioned to
investigate fruit pests at Toowoomba, then to serve on the Rabbit
Commission, then to work on pineapple pests, then sugar cane. These
duties Tryon accepted with gusto from the Agriculture Department and
produced, among other things, a landmark 238 page Report on Insects and
Fungal Pests No t in 1899*1 But this was attributed to the Agriculture
Department, with no mention of his employer, the Queensland Museum.
Relations letween Tryon and his board quickly soured. The board resented
Tryon being absent for long periods without their knowledge and
undertaking work for which they received neither funds nor credit.

de Vis was anxious that the insect collections be developed. Jn 1887
the board endorsed his recommendation that an entomologist be
appointed, but funding was not possible. In December 1888 the board
resolved that Tryon 'henceforth work solely on the Insecta'. This Tryon
agreed to do but threatened to resign if forced to accept the title
'entomologist' preferring to remain 'assistant curator'-'- 4 . In fact, Tryon
had tost a commitment to museum work and, after several years of
increasingly strained relations, the board took the opportunity, presented
by the forced staff cuts of the 1893 depression, to dismiss him (see
Chapter 3). The next year Tryon was made government entomologist
in the Agriculture Department, a position he held with distinction

178

for 31 years, as wdl as taking a leading role in Brisbane's scientific

communitv

In July 1899, just before tire museum's shift to the Exhibition building
several miles away, <le Vis suggested to the board that the museum's
inseel collection be transferred to the Agriculture Department. At that
time Henry Tryon would have been well consolidated as government

entomologist in the Agriculture Department— just next dour in William
Street— and making regular use of the museum's insect reference
collection. Clearly de Vis saw the proposal as beneficial to both the
museum and the Agriculture Department, given the pressures then
operating on both. However it 'did not meet with the approval of the
hoard'"' .and the Agriculture Department wvnt on to develop a rn.ijor insect
collection of its own.

Charles de Vis offered to allocate his own Sunday allowance to
support an insect collector in 1889 and this provoked the board to a
decision that sufficient contingency funds were available for this purpos
Charles James Wild was immediately appointed temporarily at 30 shillings
per week (see Chapter 3). This set CJ. Wild, then aged 30, at the start of a
22 year association with the museum during which he held official titles
which ran a sequence from insect collector to messenger, to entomologist,
to acting director and back finally to insect collector. If a career could be
said to have ups' and "downs' then Wild's had a preponderance of them.

Wild appears to have been a man of modest ambition and ability of
whom too much was asked. Though appointed as an insect collector his
interests clearly lay with shells. He first appears in the records of the
museum in March 1888 as a resident of Burpengary donating a collection
of 'land and marine shells'^ 7 . A month after his first apointment it was
reported that 'the newly-appointed insect collector displays most
commendable zeal'-*, the following month he made 'satisfactory
progress' 29 , but a month later Nerang was 'not rich'*'. The sea beckoned —
by August the conchological department was able to report 'having
received a large and varied collection of shells' from Wild at Burleigh
Heads". Wild was active in the short-lived Natural History Society of
Queensland, founded by Henry Tryon in 1892. but his exhibits were
principally shells and plants u .

In July 189(» Wild was sent to Cairns to collect insects, especially along
the railway being then built to Herberton. He was to remain in the area for
almost 16 months, but the museum collection today bears little evidence of
specimens from that enterprise. After losing his collecting gear he was
'instructed to travel less continuously but as a rule remain in each locality
for not less than 3 months' l \ A little later it was thought 'advisable that
the insect collector should be transferred to some other fields of labour'
and he was recalled to Brisbane

In December 1892 Wild was placed on the permanent staff after both
de Vis- and trustee Joseph Bancroft spoke in his favour. He appears to have
had an amiable relationship with both de Vis and Tryon, perhaps a difficult
achievement, and was one of the two staff kept when the drastic
depression retrenchments of 1893 occurred (see Chapter 3). At this
time he was kept on as messenger— however, in 1894 he was 'in charge
of the insect department' when a theft was reported of several American
butterflies from the Miskin collection*. In 1899 he was sent to
Cunnamulla to begin a mosquito collection which was to be sent to the
British Museunr 1 ' 1 .

Wild's position— as messenger — had become temporary in 1895. but

Vi told pTVputur '.
BpeciBS ol the new family found if)
— the tal new family of its >r.
described since 1914. A museum party
fnund il in deep sand in the Cofl
region of south-eastern Queensland fta

anean babital in deep sand,
probably concealed 11 \rotn earlier
collectors* and resulted in remarkable
adaptations that distinguish it from other
families ot the Onhrop!cr:i (drawing by
S.P. Kim, bom Rent/., 1980 **).

179

when he was returned to the permanent staff, in May 1901, he successfully
sought a change in his official title to entomologist. However, in 1903 the
board was to note that 'exchanges proposed by insect collectors had been
declined, the Entomologist having no leisure for such work' 17 . Wild never
published in entomology, and his elevation to acting director following the
retirement of de Vis in 1905 put paid to any possibility that he might.
Robert Etheridge's report of 1910 was not complimentary to Wild and it
included the scathing comment: 'he says Conchology is his hobby' *.

When Ronald Hamlyn-Harris
was appointed director, following the
jjffc^^ recommendations of the

Etheridge report, Wild's
days were clearly

numbered, but they
could hardly

have been
more harshly-
terminated.
He was made
insect collector
again at age 58.
Having spent
most of the last
decade in office work,
including four years in
charge of the museum,
he was despatched
alone into the Blackall
Range for three months
His task was to collect
large insects. It was April
1911— early winter, when
insects, particularly large
ones, are rare; and he was
provided with written
Instructions for Preserving and
forwarding Insects such as one
would give a school boy. His
numerous letters to Hamlyn-Harris
from the field record his progressive
misery: 1 April 'I had a fall on the

bank of the creek in my anxiety ';

10 April 'I am sorry my efforts have not

met with your approval '; 15 May Tor

more than a week I have been very

unwell for the last 3 days I have

had nothing to eat '; 26 May

There was a bitter frost'; 30 May
'so cold I can hardly hold the gun

180

On 5 June, at Woodford, a fire swept through his camp destroying
everything including his tent, food and clothing. A police enquiry initiated
by Hamlyn-Harris reported: 'Constable Leahy who visited the spot and
inspected it is of the opinion that the fire originated from Mr Wild's own
camp fire' 41 . Despite Wild's offer to accept transfer to another department
he was dismissed on 31 July, after Hamlyn-Harris opined to the under
secretary that 'Mr Wild is simply wasting his time and ours' 42 .

The way Hamlyn-Harris got rid of Wild seems especially harsh, for
his services as an insect collector were no
longer essential to the museum.
Entomologist Henry Hacker,
with an outstanding
reputation as a field
collector, had
already been

appointed and
Wild could have
been more
humanely directed
into his favoured
? conchology to eke
out his final days at
the museum. Wild was
the last officially designated
biological collector at the
| museum and his
departure marked the end
of a traditional museum
era where curators curated,
collectors collected, and the
twain rarely met.
Thenceforth Hacker himself
collected insects— with
spectacular results.

Hamlyn-Harris, appointed
in 1910 and charged with the
H* revitalization of the museum, came
S^ to the task equipped with a classical
European scientific education and a
wide circle of established contacts in
the scientific community. His
background lay with invertebrates, having
published a seminal paper on statocysts in
cephalopods and having worked with bees
in England and mosquitoes in the West
Indies. He soon followed up some of these
interests. In 1911 he wrote to Thomas
Bancroft, of Eidsvold, asking for mosquito
specimens to augment the museum's

The type specimen of Coscinocera
hercules Miskin, 1876— the moth with the
largest wing span in the world. The
female is shown, actual size. *

181

Henry Hacker,

Museum 1911-

entomologist, Queensland
29.

collection which he found to be in a parlous state 43 . Thomas, son of Joseph
Bancroft, a prominent member of the museum's first board of trustees,
had published a review of Queensland mosquitoes in the 1908 museum's
Annals u — it generated many reprint requests to the museum. Hamlyn-
Harris also began to borrow cephalopods for study and he went to some
lengths to gain permission to work up those from the Commonwealth
survey vessel, Endeavour— named after Captain Cook's ship. Neither of
these research aspirations was to bear fruit during his museum years —
he wrote largely on ethnological topics. His principal contribution in the
invertebrate field was to appoint capable honorary and permanent staff, to
build up the collections and, importantly, to open a dialogue with the
leading workers of the time.

Within twelve months of his appointment Hamlyn-Harris was in
contact with numerous workers offering collections for study and often
publication space in the museum's own periodical. Entomologists of note
contacted by Hamlyn-Harris included HJ. Carter, G.A. Waterhouse,
R.J. Tillyard, E.W. Ferguson, A.M. Lea, and A.A. Girault. H.J. Carter, the
prolific amateur coleopterist who was principal of Ascham Girls School
in Sydney, wrote enthusing about a collection of Tenebrionidae he had
received and offering to name a new pie-dish beetle Helaeus harrisi 45 .
Hamlyn-Harris asked him to change it to Helaeus hamlyni 'because Harris
is such a common name' 46 . Carter also diplomatically raised the penurious
state of a young teaching colleague of his who was recuperating from ill
health at Dorrigo without pay, and suggested that the museum might offer
to buy named dragonflies from him 47 . Hamlyn-Harris contacted the young
man and a deal was struck, but not without pangs of conscience on the part
of the vendor, who wrote, 'I know you will sympathize with me in this.
I never sold an insect in my life. I feel it a bit of a degradation (I hate
professionalism in entomology) to have to do it, but I must do it or "go
hang'*' 48 . The museum thus acquired for £10 a valuable set of named
dragonflies from Robin John Tillyard, then on the hesitant brink of a
stunning career in entomology.

Another young man with a much greater dislike of 'professionalism'
in entomology than Tillyard, and one who was to leave a much more
enduring mark on the Queensland Museum, visited Hamlyn-Harris during
his second year in office. Alexandre Arsene Girault was an American
passing through Brisbane on his way to an entomologist's job in north
Queensland. Although his duties were to involve investigation of sugar
cane pests, his passion was the taxonomy of the Chalcidoidea, a vast group
of tiny parasitic wasps on which he was already an established worker.
Soon after he took up duty he wrote to Hamlyn-Harris enquiring about
publication possibilities and offering to lodge his types in the museum 49 .
Hamlyn-Harris, obviously impressed with Girault's enthusiasm, and
anxious to get manuscripts for the first issue of the Memoirs of the
Queensland Museum — replacing the Annals— agreed to publish his work.
An awkward problem arose for Hamlyn-Harris when the first manuscript
arrived for it contained a lengthy prefatory declaration of a polemical
nature quite unrelated to the scientific content of the paper. Hamlyn-
Harris was unhappy about this because of the precedent it would set for
others wishing to express their personal opinions. But he felt obliged to
honour his undertaking to Girault and he printed it unchanged, though
with a footnoted disclaimer. Girault's paper occupied 124 pages, more than
half the first issue of the new Memoirs 50 , Soon after it appeared Hamlyn
Harris' worst fears were realized — he received a facetious letter from

182

lepidopterist A.J. Turner threatening to:

send you an entomological paper in which the n©W species w i

named after the Popes of Rome and to dedicate each species with

a sentence damning some particular heresy. 1 propose to precede the
whole with a short dedication expressing in obscure and oracular
terms a dogmatic view of the Universe from the stand point of
Roman Catholicism *.

After this Hamlyn-Harris reasoned with Gtrault and received his
permission to use discretion regarding any future dedications that he
might want published in his M&mn'rs papers. It did not happen again.
Girault's next contribution ran to 570 pages and filled 2 volumes of the
Memoirs. Hamlyn-Harris then received criticism from NSW government
entomologist, W.W. Froggatt. for publishing what Froggatt felt were
Girault's inadequate taxonomic descriptions M — a complaint with which
modern entomologists would agree. Froggatt also thought — mistakenly —
that Girault was creating so many new species that surely he must have
entered into an arrangement with the museum whereby it would purchase
his type specimens.

Girault's subsequent tormented life has been well documented
elsewhere 5: '. It was spent in and out of employment due to personal
disputes and the constraints of periods of financial depression, In Brisbane
he suffered poverty, debilitating manual labour, and the premature loss of
his wife leaving five children to support. But he continued a prodigious
output of taxonomic work, often resorting to privately printed pamphlets
as an outlet. In these he expressed, in unconventional terms, his burning
convictions about the low status of 'pure' science and his disdain for those
whom he felt had prostituted themselves to ambition and
'professionalism'. Heber Longman was to help Girault over the years with
microscope slides, mounting materials and a degree of moral support
during his low periods. Girault always spoke kindly of the museum and
continued to lodge his types there. These, though initially in a pitiful state
of preservation and documentation, total some 3500 specimens and
represent one of the important type holdings in the museum. At his death
in 194lGirauJt left behind an unpublished manuscript of 2483 handwritten
pages weighing 37 pounds. The interpretation of his type specimens in the
light of this document has presented an almost Giraultian torment to
curator E.C. Dahms in recent years.

Henry Hacker, whom Hamlyn-Harris appointed as entomologist in
1911, was outstanding:

not only did Henry Hacker have great observational and practical
skills in dealing with insects, enthusiasm for collecting them, and an
"eye for a species", but he was also physically tough, resourceful and
self-reliant, with a capacity for meeting awkward situations, and
mentally tough too. for when he had determined on a course he
pursued it despite hazards and discomforts^.

Gaining his original expertise with insects at the British Museum,
he came to Australia in the late 1890s and led a mobile, adventurous life,
following the gold discoveries, and collecting insects wherever he went.
Unlike Henry Tryon, whose travels had been pedestrian, Hacker chose a
bicycle. In a published letter to coleoptenst A.M. Lea he describes part of
a 500 mile ride from Charters Towers to Cloncurry in 1907.

It was impossible to ride or even to push my bicycle through the wet
black soil, so I shouldered it at sunrise and started to walk to the
next stopping place, Fishers Creek, a distance of 40 miles. With the
help of a little riding in the harder parts of the country my halting

183

Rowland Midge, a pioneer naturalist of
the early 20th century, who worked on
butterflies and beetles as well as birds.
His association with the museum
spanned nearly half a century. His
interest in natural history is said to have
first developed through Elizabeth Coxen
in the 1880s.

place was reached at midnight, after having to leave the bicycle on

the road the hotel was closed, and I was compelled to sleep in wet

cloths on the footpath. Next day I walked back to the bicycle 55 .

During these travels he built up a large beetle collection of 6000
species which he sold to the Berlin Museum about 1910 56 . More
importantly for his later career he built up close personal contacts with
working taxonomists around Australia. Hamlyn-Harris' letter to the under
secretary recommending Hacker's appointment echoed Etheridge's
observations about the existing museum insect collection, and to some
extent it explains the new director's criticism of Wild:

It must be known to you, that our insect collections are in such a bad
state of preservation, that the specimens are mostly falling to pieces
and the cases are full of vermin and unless something is done soon
they will be irretrievably lost to science 57 .

Henry Hacker was just the man for the job. Described as 'shy and
retiring' and 'silent among a group' 54 he took no part in the public lecture
series which Hamlyn-Harris initiated and is rarely mentioned in the many
gushing press accounts of the museum stage-managed by his media-
conscious colleague, Heber Longman. Hacker felt his task was to get the
Queensland insect fauna collected, properly preserved with good data and,
most importantly, studied— and he rarely swerved from that path. He
travelled widely, later graduating to a motor cycle on which he earned a
reputation equal to his earlier one on the bicycle, and made prodigious
collections. He despatched material to specialists around the world,
encouraging them by generosity in exchanges and donation of duplicates.
A major discovery of his was a member of the primitive 'antarctic' family
of moss-feeding bugs, Peloridiidae, living in the high Nothofagus forest of
the Lamington Plateau— the species he described we now know as
Hackeriella veitchi 58 .

Henry Hacker went on to publish a series of papers in the Memoirs
despite Hamlyn-Harris' remark that 'Mr Hacker is a qood working
entomologist, incapable I take it of doing any scientific work' 58 . His papers
reflect the breadth of his interests and his remarkable powers of
observation. Many are illustrated by his own photomicrographs using
primitive methods, but producing results ahead of their time. He had a
special interest in bees, publishing a 6-paqe catalogue of Australian species
in 1921 59 , and for years corresponded with and sent specimens to the
eminent American bee specialist Professor T.D.A. Cockerel!. Cockerell
described scores of species sent by Hacker and co-authored a paper with
him. Typically, when Cockerell personally visited the museum in 1924, the
press feted his meetings with Longman, barely mentioning Hacker.

Recognizing Hacker's abilities the government transferred him to the
Agriculture Department in 1929 where he did an equally efficient job in
building up that department's insect collection. However he remained in
charge of the museum's insect collection, working one or two days a week
there until his retirement in 1943. This marked the beqinning of a close
association between the entomologists of the museum and the Department
of Agriculture, and from that time holotypes from the department have
regularly been lodged in the museum. Hacker gave up entomology' and
all connection with it after his retirement in 1943, although he lived for
30 more years, dying in 1973 at the age of 97.

When G.B. Monteith took charge of the museum's Hemiptera
collection, in 1978, he was surprised at its small size in view of its having
been one of Hacker's favoured groups. Recent chance information from

184

America reveals (hat just before Hacker retired he sold a large colic
of Queensland Hemiptera to a wealthy private American hemipterist. Cat)
J. Diake Drake's collection is now housed separately in the U.S. National
Museum of Natural History under (he terms ot a generous bequest from
Drake. Australia's largest species of fungus bug (Aradidae) has its hoMype
there, a specimen collected by Hacker at Buderim in 1912. It's name is
Draktessa kackm (Drake), a permanent reminder of the partners in a
museum impropriety 45 years ago.

Soon after the secondment of Henry' Hacker to the Agriculture
Department in 1929 AJ. Turner began informal periods as honorary
entomologist at the museum. Turner's first association with the museum
had been a brief term on its board just before its disbandment in 1907. He
was an eminent paediatrician and prolific amateur Jepidopterist, having
collected extensively and published 121 papers describing about 3.500
species' 1 ". A collector colleague of his was Wilfrid Bourne Barnard, one of
the noted Barnard family of naturalists. Barnard himself was not inclined
to describe species hut Turner had described numerous species from his
collection over the years. When Barnard died in 1940 his collection was
bequeathed to CSIRO in Canberra but, by arrangement with his family, it
came to the Queensland Museum. We can assume that the 'arrangement
was influenced by Turner who, then retired, spent several years working
on the Barnard collection at the museum, contributing three papers on it
to the Memoirs. The Barnard collection contains about 750 of Turners
types making it a vital regional adjunct to Turner's own collection — which
did go to CSIRO,

Little work was done on the entomological collections from 1940 to
1962 though Hubert Jarvis of the Agriculture Department spent one day
per fortnight at the museum during 1944-48. It was in 1962 that Director
George Mack's long efforts to increase the curatorial staff of the museum
resulted in the appointment of an entomologist, E.G. Dahms. rite
responsibility, as Tryon's had been, was the whole of the insect, arachnid
and other invertebrate collections. Mack himself acted as vertebrate
curator. Dahms set himself the task of organising and cataloguing the
collection, especially the 4,000 slides and 18 drawers of pinned specimens
that comprised the Girault collection. Subsequently the check list of 3,000
Girault species in the Chaladoidea was published with funds provided by
the Australian Biological Resources Survey* 1 .

In 1978 the responsibilities for entomology in the museum were
shared out between Dahms and the newly appointed curator, G.B. Monteith,
iVho had formerly been curator of the entomology museum m
the University of Queensland. Monteith has pursued investigations on
the biogeography of flightless Hemiptera— their limited capacity for
dispersal making them excellent subjects for the investigation of isolating
mechanisms between communities. The acquisition of honorary associate
T.E. Woodward's collections of Hemiptera was an important one for the
museum and, with those made by Monteith, the museum's collections of
the families Aradidae and Lygaeidae in this order are strong.

Tn the course of his Surveys Monteith has collected extensively,
especially from rainforest and high altitude areas throughout the state,
and has expanded greatly the museum's holdings. He has solicited the
co-operation of many colleagues, who are studying much of the material
he has collected in connection with his own research. The museum and
science will benefit accordingly— through the establishment of identified
reference collections of a variety of insect groups; and through an increase

Naturalist WB. Bainard. wh<<-..

entumuki^cal collection, coniafitinj
ni Turners types, cam* tu the
Queensland Museum.

185

Charjee nudity kls., <m Northwest ' .
Capricorn Group 1936. He was ;" this

enl ' fli -*.- Ujt dj the I ■ i
i i ■■'"■■I i ommittefi and bad

Accompanied 3 party ol students from Hie

j sity of Queensland to the island

(photograph b> caujtt&y a. Dfinntead).

in the understanding of dispersal and speciation in rainforest refuge areas.

The museum also holds the Eland Shaw collection of Australian
cockroaches that formed the basis of his investigations oi 1914 to 1925 " :1 .
These were catalogued by E.G. Dahms ,kt and the Blattidae were later
reviewed by Josephine Mackerras between 1965 and 1968.

The insects of Queensland are diverse. However, despite their
economic importance that has resulted in rather more investigation on die
gToup than for most others, the insects of Australia are still imperfectly
known and will continue to be collected and studied in the museum for a
very longtime,

Molluscs

Alter the Philosophical Society's museum was moved to new quarters
in the Queen Street Parliamentary' building in 1869, Charles Coxen lent hiy
shell collection for display. As Coxen's mam interest was ornithology, it
may be more correct to say that the loaned shell collection was that of his
wife, Elizabeth Coxen (nee Isaac). She was a serious conchologi9t in her
own right. Years later, one of her contemporaries, Henry Tryon, was to
imply that it was her influence, and not that of her husband, which led the
youthful Rowland Illidge to an interest in shells* 54 . After Coxen's sudden
death in 1876, following only three meetings of the board of trustees he
had worked so hard to establish, she offered 'his' shell collection for sale
to the museum with the request that she gain some remuneration for
maintaining the museum's shells. After some clarification of the
demarcation between the Coxen collection and the museum collection at
the request of ever vigilant trustee W.H. Miskin, the board agreed, on
19 January 1877, to buy the collection (including birds and books) for
£239,2.0, and to make £50 available for Mrs Coxen's curatorial services for
the year at the rate of 10 shillings per day attended ^. She continued this
casual arrangement up to about 1882. Thus, Elizabeth Coxen was the first
person paid to look after invertebrates in the Queensland Museum.

Between 1882 and 1893 Tryon, Broadbent and Wild added molluscs to
the museum's collection. When Tryon was directed to devote his time to
insects, in late 1888, the board solved the concomitant problem of lack of
curalorship lor the Mollusca by appointing Charles Hedley to a temporary
position of eunehological assistant. English born, Hedley had worked on an
oyster lease on Stradbroke Island and at fruit growing near Gladstone.
After a serious injury to his arm, the museum job gave him welcome relief
from heavy work" During 1889 he completely rearranged the shells and
donated a collection of his own w . A collection from Sydney conchologist
T- Brazier was also received 6 ".

In early 1890, Sir William MacGregor, having met Hedley when he

•d through Brisbane, wroLe and asked for him to be allowed to join
his New Guinea expedition, then in progress, The board was enthusiastic
about this proposal and 'on the understanding that Mr Hedley would
collect solely for the Museum he had been furnished with collecting
materials and his passage paid to Cooktown'* The board also resolved
that if an assistant zoologists salary should become available then it
should be offered to Hedley. His report from New Guinea in July of the
same year revealed the experience of many eager naturalists on their first
visit to the tropics for his 'expectations of a rich harvest of objects of
interest were somewhat disappointed' r,J . Malaria overcame him and on
return to Brisbane he had to sever his connections with the museum. In
1891 he joined the Australian Museum where his 30-year career made him
a key figure in Australian malacology**.

186

Years later, from the Australian Museum, Hedley was able to perform
a service for the museum that resulted in its acquisition of an important
collection. Hamlyn-Harris had met E.J. Banfield— the celebrated
'Beachcomber' of Dunk Island — in Brisbane in 1911 and must have
appealed to him for specimens from the Great Barrier Reef, for on his
return to Dunk Island Banfield was to write:

As I explained to you I am somewhat embarrassed. Your predecessor
seemed not to encourage me and I made other alliances, which it
would be vain of me to disregard 71 .

One of the 'other alliances' Banfield was referring to was with the
Australian Museum. It had arisen through his long friendship with Charles
Hedley. After the 'Beachcombers' death in 1923 his widow, Bertha, offered
his collection to the Australian Museum as a token of his long association
with Hedley. However, Sir Matthew Nathan, Queensland's governor, and a
great proselytizer for Great Barrier Reef studies, personally intervened
with Mrs Banfield appealing for the retention of Banfield's collection in
the state. Conscience wracked, Bertha wrote to Hedley explaining
her dilemma:

I regret my want of thought exceedingly, but will you after this
explanation allow me to offer to the Queensland museum the first

refusal of the shells I have tried to act as I have thought would be

pleasing to my dear one, and he was so intensely patriotic as regards
Queensland I think he would have liked his treasures to remain
with her 72 .

To her relief Hedley fully agreed that Banfield's memory 'should be
especially cherished in Queensland' 73 and so the museum gained an
important and historic collection which was placed on public display for
many years.

After Hedley left the museum there was no one to look after the
shells — for it was soon after that the retrenchments of 1893 reduced the
staff so drastically (see Chapter 3). Undoubtedly Wild would have liked
to, but it is not likely that he had the time and he was not given
the opportunity.

When Hamlyn-Harris increased the scientific strength of the
institution by appointing honoraries in 1912, John Shirley DSc was
appointed honorary conchologist. He was an inspector of schools, a
prominent figure in Brisbane's scientific circles, and later to become first
principal of the Teachers' Training College 3 . He spent Saturday afternoons
and all holidays reducing the collection from 'chaotic' to orderly. But in
1914 he wrote to Hamlyn-Harris:

The want of literature in your institution, especially of the works
named in my former letter, and also of such French conchologists as
Montrouzier, Crosse, Fischer, Quoy and Gaimard are also great

hindrance to the determination of shells Under these conditions

I find that 1 cannot spare sufficient time for accurate determination.
I must therefore ask you to accept my resignation 74 .

After Shirley retired from the teachers' college in 1919 Longman
arranged his appointment as conchologist at the beginning of 1920 (at age
71) at a salary of £200 p.a. He 'revised and rearranged with the skill of an
expert who had made a hobby of the shells of our foreshore' 7S but he
ceased work in 1921 and died the next year. His collection was donated to
the museum in 1973.

H.W. Hermann was another honorary conchologist to the museum.
He worked there during the 1940s and he appears to have attracted other
conchologists to the museum —

Eland Shaw, the donor of an important
collection of cockroaches.

187

Queensland, 1975. Valerie Davies, curatoi
m arflchnology, suriing spectmi

Mr Hawkey a fireman in the railways often comes in for a chat.

His Speciality is cqnchology — he has a big collection of shells. He
also knows Mr li.W. Herman well, the honorary eonchologist, who
spends many hours in the Shell Room where there is no ventilation
and the smell is different to that pervading the rest of the
ement 76 *

Hermann did not even have a table to work at until Mack arrived
and had cupboards shifted lo make room for one 76 . His large identified
Collection was, like Shirley's, donated to the museum after about 30 years.
Hermann's came via Tom Marshall in 1974, K.V. Oldham, the museum
photographer, also donated his small collection of shells™.

Thus, the museum had benefited from the work of many honoraries
and, in due course, was to acquire their collections. However, up to 1970,
the only significant work to have been published on the collection had
been that of Hedley and Shirley. Generally the labelling was inadequate,
registration and cataloguing incomplete and little scientific work had been
based on the material — which largely consisted of marine shells. There
was little alcohol preserved material in which the animai was retained
wath its shell. In fact, although the collection had some value as a
reference collection, it had little as a scientific resource. Further, there
was only a very limited representation of the important non-marine
molluscs that were likely to be unique to Queensland and were not
represented in other collections in Australia. The first appointment to the
position of curator of molluscs, Helen King, began to remedy this situation
and worked on terrestrial species. However, the mechanical cleaning and
sorting of the large collection of marine shells was a distraction. In 197b*
Martin J. Bishop — the first museum appointee to come directly from an
overseas institution — began his investigations on terrestrial snails. Before
be returned to Cambridge in 1978 he had added significantly to [he
collection of land molluscs and had contributed to the taxonomy and
biogeography of Queensland terrestrial molluscs, especially those m
rainforest areas. In 1980 J. Stanisic was appointed curator, and he
continued the emphasis on non-marine molluscs, initiating investigations
on the relatively unknown smaller species of terrestrial snails, especially
those living in rainforest litter that are important in the energy-flow
relationships of rainforests. As a result of King's. Bishop's and Stanisic's
efforts, the terrestrial component of the museum's mollusc collection,
encompassing a comprehensive coverage of taxa from most habitats
throughout the state, constitutes an important research tool

The most recent addition to the mollusc collection is the large
donation of about 400,000 specimens of marine and non-marine shells
from honorary associate F.S. Colliver. Apart from its size, the geographic
and habitat range that is represented makes the collection a valuable
acquisition) compensating for the poor label data on some of the older
components of the museum's holdings. Thus the museum now has a
comprehensive reference collection of tropical Indo-West Pacific marine
molluscs as well as its growing collection of non-marine species.

Arachnids

de Vis was the first person in the museum to work on spiders— he
had a minor Jong-term interest in them. He used to come into the library
on Sundays to work on them, and in 1911 he described a spider whose silk
was used by the aborigines for fishing. He also translated keys and
prepared catalogues of Australian spiders. It was probably de Vis who
•sted Joseph Lamb in the group. Etheridge in his 1910 report heaped

I8fi

praise on Lamb — 'in my opinion the one capable man of the staff who,

among many other duties, was 'making a special study of spiders and
frogs' 38 . Lamb, though classified as assistant in the industrial department
and a painter by trade, published a short paper on new spiders in the 1911
Annals of the Queensland Museum. But this promising future for
arachnology came to an abrupt halt with Lamb's resignation, in March 1911,
because he 'wanted to settle on the land'. A brief flirtation with
arachnology in the museum about this period manifested itself also in the
loan of the New Guinea, Northern Territory and Blackall Range spiders to
W.J. Rainbow at the Australian Museum for description; the donation of
mygalomorphs by Thomas Bancroft of Eidsvold; the visit of R.H. Pulleine,
an amateur arachnologist from South Australia, in 1912; and the loan of
jumping spiders to G.W. Peckham in New York.

From 1943 to 1946 Mrs Grichting, the librarian, was looking after the
spiders, and bottles and specimens were brought into the library so that
she could work on them without leaving the library unattended 76 . She does
not appear to have published on the group and it was not until 1971 that a
curator was appointed.

In 1962, when E.C. Dahms was appointed to the position of curator
of entomology, his responsibilities included the arachnids, which were
delegated to an assistant. In 1971 it was an assistant in entomology who
had been looking after the arachnids, R.W. Monroe, who became the first
curator of arachnology. He added more than 2,000 specimens from the
Darling Downs and mid-eastern Queensland to the collections. Valerie
Davies succeeded Monroe in 1972. Davies specialised in the family
Amaurobiidae (Araneomorphae) in which she described numbers of new
species and gernera. However, she also developed a comprehensive
collection of all taxa, exploring every major habitat in most parts of the
state. Features of the collecting programme conducted by Davies were the
rainforest surveys — from the sub-tropical forests of the sand masses of
south-eastern Queensland to the montane forests of Cape York Peninsula.
These surveys, which involved continuous periods of up to two months in
the field, echoed the achievements of the museum collectors of the late
19th century. They added many thousands of specimens to the collections,
and included a vast number of as yet undescribed species. From the

Museum expedition to Iron Range,
northern Queensland, 1977. L to R: Paul
Filewood, assistant; Valerie Davies;
Martin Bishop, curator of malacology.

189

northern Queensland material, families with Papua New Guinea affinities
were recorded in Australia fur the first time.

Robert Raven became assistant in the arachnid section in 1975 and
succeeded Davies as curator of arachnology in 1985. Raven specialised in
My^alomorphae— trapdoor spiders — applying his data to the elucidation
of biogeographic relationships between the fauna of Australia and the
western Pacific and the other continents of Gondwanaland. The Lyeosidae
—wolf spiders — have been studied by R. McKay — who works on the
family in addition to his responsibilities as curator of fishes.

Protozoan and Helminth Parasites and Symbionts

Until the appointment, in 1976, of Lester Cannon— a turbellarian
specialist — as the curator of lower invertebrates, the museum has not
had the benefit of an authority on helminth or protozoan parasites.
Nevertheless it has acquired, through the work of associates and others
working in Queensland, one of the important Australian collections of
these groups reflecting the importance of veterinary and medical
pathology in this tropical state. The first donor was T. Harvey Johnston,
who arrived in Brisbane in 1911 to become the inaugural lecturer-io-charge
(and later professor) of the biology department at the newly founded
University of Queensland. Like Hamlyn-Harris, who had taken up the
museum directorship the previous year, he was interested in
invertebrates. Harvey Johnston served as honorary zoologist at the
museum from 1912. The museum was to become repository for many of
the helminth and protozoan parasites of vertebrates emanating from his
work until he moved to the University of Adelaide in 1922. Johnston's
appointment as an honorary of the museum marked the beginning of a
long and fruitful relationship with the University of Queensland zoology
departmenr which still endures. Agreements for deposition of primary
types in the museum by members of the zoology and entomology
departments have benefited the museum's invertebrate holdings over
the j'ears.

An outstanding student of Harvey Johnston *s was Josephine Bancroft.
She was the grand-daughter of museum trustee Joseph— the celebrated
naturalist and medical practitioner who had contributed to the
identification of the filarial worm causing elephantiasis; and she was the
daughter of Thomas— who had determined details of the transmission of
filarial disease by mosquitoes. She collaborated with Harvey Johnston in
much of his work during his University of Queensland days. As the wife
of Ian Mackerras the tamed medical entomologist who later became the
director of the Queensland Institution of Medical Research (QIMR),
Josephine went on to a distinguished career as a parasitologist in
that institution.

Josephine and Ian Mackerras began to work together while at Heron
Island on their honeymoon. They combined her interest in blood
protozoans with his interest in vectors of pathological organisms that had
been particularly important in combatting malaria and other disease in
the Australian and American armies during World War II. In due course
Josephine Mackerras made a major contribution to the understanding of
haematozoan Protozoa and filarial parasites of the Australian native fauna,
much of veterinary significance 77 . The museum holds her unique and
comprehensive collection made between 1947 and 1961

At about the same time D.F. Sandars, a colleague of Josephine
Mackerras and also a former student of Harvey Johnston's was studying
helminth parasites at the QIMR. Professor John Sprent of the University

190

Professor T. Harvey Johnston, came to
the University of Queensland in 1911 and
began a tradition of co-operation
between that institution and the
museum.

I^H

The museum acquires a boat for
estuarine surveys, 1972.

191

Garden C. Wallace, curator of lower
invertebrates 1970-7. with the ootal
collet:! ion.

of Queensland was beginning to work in the same area. Sandar's
specimens came to the museum; and, in 1986, Sprents collection will be
accessioned. Thus the museum's helminth reference collection is second
only to the Australian National Collection, which was first brought
together by Harvey Johnston and his students at Adelaide University and
since has attracted other donations.

Corals

Though molluscs received attention at the museum in the earliest
flays there were equally conspicuous and aesthetically pleasing marine
invertebrates that were neglected. This was despite the proximity of the
Great Barrier Reef. Their neglect was partly the result of the sheer
expense and logistical difficulty of working in those dangerous and remote
waters; and partly because there was no practical need for knowledge of
these groups, de Vis had been member of a committee for scientific
enquiry into the Barrier Reef but it was disbanded for lack of funds.
Hamlyn-Harris recommended the advisability of the establishment of
biological stations on the Reef during a lecture tour in Adelaide in January
1914. Later that year he visited the Reef personally, spending two weeks
on Dunk Island with the 'Beachcomber', EJ. Banfield. His views on the
need for a Reef research station received extensive press coverage and
were supported by Banfield's own regular columns in the Townsvilk
Daily Bulletin \

In the absence of a biological station the Queensland museum is
performing some of its functions and strenuously fostering the idea
Or Hamlyn-Harris devoutly believes tu be in the interests of

science generally 78 .

Hamlyn-Harris' dreams of a reef station were not realized in his time.
In 1922 the Great Barrier Reef Committee (GBRC) was formed as an

iation of invited delegates under the auspices of the Royal
Geographical Society of Australasia of which the Queensland governor,
Sir Matthew Nathan, was then president, The committee's chairman was
H.C. Richards, professor of geology at the University of Queensland. Heber
Longman, the museum's director, was a member and he suggested, at its
first meeting, that the committee set up a permanent research station -
Tbte suggestion, emanating originally from Hamlyn-Harris, was not to be
adopted until, in 1953, the GBRC, founded the Heron Island Research
Station*'. Instead, the committee's approaches to the British Association
for the Advancement of Science resulted in the 1928-29 Yonge expedition
to Low Isles. Longman, Richards and E.O. Marks visited the expedition as
committee representatives in October 1928. At the same time, Longman
encouraged public awareness of the Reef by opening the famous rural
diorama in the museum. This was developed from material collected by
preparator Tom Marshall assisted by local Bowen resident E.H. Rainford
who senr reef invertebrates to the museum for many years until his death
in 1938. Longman's association with the GBRC produced no great material
benefits in the way of systematic collections. The committee did not see
that its responsibilities included the collection of invertebrates for
Australian museums, which Richards thought were 'already stuffed with
collections that remained un worked'-* 1 .

Nevertheless, the museum did receive a collection of corals from the
GBRC. It was made by Charles Hedley who, in 1924, having retired from
the Australian Museum, came back to Queensland as scientific officer for
the committee at a salary of £700 per year*. Hedley made this collection
when he joined the HMAS Geranium surveying in the waters of the Reef,

192

These corals were identified by J.W. Wells of Cornell University who used
them as the basis for one of the earlier works on taxonomy of Great
Barrier Reef corals 81 .

The GBRC coral collection, together with that from Low Isles from
the University of Queensland, formed the basis of the identified coral
collection that came under the care of Carden Wallace when she became
curator of lower invertebrates in 1970. She set herself the task of
unravelling the taxonomy of the family Acroporidae— the stag-horn corals.
This group— the dominant one in the reef community— had confounded
previous efforts to understand it owing to the variability of its growth
forms, which are readily modified by the environment. She applied an
innovative numerical approach to the problem with great success, bringing
credit to the museum 82 . Later, she was coauthor —with J.E.N. Veron of the
Australian Institute of Marine Science— of the definitive monograph on
the Acroporidae 83 .

The coral collection that Wallace built up in the museum before she
left in 1976 will be vastly expanded in 1986 by the large and important
collections of James Cook University and the Australian Institute of
Marine Science — both in Townsville. These collections formed the basis
for the whole series of monographic works on coral taxonomy that were
published by the latter institution. Initially, much of this coral material will
very likely remain in the Townsville branch of the museum to open in 1986
(see Chapter 14). There is current interest in coral taxonomy in the
Townsville institutions and it is the museums policy to take cognisance of
the needs and interests of the local community in deploying its collections,
expertise and other services through its branch establishments.

Crustaceans

Bruce M. Campbell, formerly curator of the museum in the zoology
department of the University of Queensland, became curator of zoology
in 1964. He brought with him, from the zoology department museum, the
corals from Low Isles reported on by Stephenson and Wells 81 and the
rocky shore molluscs and other organisms that had been surveyed by
Endean, Stephenson and Kenny 84 , as well as a variety of other
invertebrates. Campbell's appointment was at the end of the era of the
general curator, whose responsibilities ranged through so many diverse
animal groups that constructive research or even collecting was almost

Monteith {left) and Dahms, curators of
entomology, collecting in the rainforest,
Mt. Glorious (outside Brisbane).

193

Queensland Museum-Earthwatch
expedition to Beiienden Iter, northern
Queensland* In 1981, Assistant Doug
Couk descends the cable tower lo iHe
expedition bivouac at 1000m altitude.

impossible. In the Queensland Museum his responsibilities excluded only
insectSj arachnids, reptiles, birds and terrestrial mammals. He curat ed the
rest of the invertebrates and fishes and aquatic mammals. It was the first
time since 1888, when Medley had been on the staff, thai an entomologist
had not had the responsibility lor the entire invertebrate collection.
Nevertheless, it was a formidable portfolio and it was not until 1968 that
there was some relief —a curator of fishes was appointed. Campbell kept
the whales. Not until 1970, with the appointment of other invertebrate
curators, was he gradually able to assume full time responsibility for
Crustacea — the subject of his own research. He began to systematically
develope these collections. Unfortunately Campbell's research on shore
and mangrove crabs, as well as his participation in surveys of wetland and
estuarine habitats, came gradually to a halt as he assumed the duties of
deputy director from 1976. His successor as curator of crustaceans,
R. Monroe, did some useful work on barnacles before his resignation.
P. Davie the present curator is continuing the work on crabs.

Ascidians

The three new curators, appointed in 1970 to alleviate Campbell's
awesome responsibilities for all of the invertebrates excluding insects and
atachnids, were m the fields of molluscs, and lower and higher
invertebrates. The division between the last two was entirely arbitrary,
depending on the interests and expertise of the encumbents. At first,
Wallace, as curator of tower invertebrates, had the lion's share — just aboul
everything except bryozoans, echinoderms and prochordates, none of
which were particularly well represented in the collections, tn 1974, after i
year as a caretaker curator of molluscs. Patricia Mather — publishing
under her maiden name of Kott — became curator of higher invertebrates
with responsibilities for annelids, bryozoans and prochordates.
Echinoderms went to Wallace's successor as curator of lower
invertebrates— Lester Cannon — for no other reason than that he had
some expertise with them, while Mather had some research experience in
the Annelida. Mather came to the museum with a sound international
reputation as an authority on ascidians — commonly known as sea
squirts— the only authority in the southern hemisphere and one of the few
in the world. Although an important group of filter feeding organisms in
temperate as well as tropical seas, the only ascidians that were in the
collection at the time were some from Moreton Bay that she had lodged
while a research fellow in the University of Queensland. So she set about
building up a collection— now a comprehensive representation of species
from other parts of the tropical West Pacific as well as from both tropical
and temperate locations around the Australia coast— collected from
intertidal habitats and complemented by donations of survey material from
other bent hie habitats. The collection, containing in the vicinity of 25% of
the holotypes of the species known from Australia, was the basis for
taxonomic and biogeographic work on the Australian and Indo-West Pacific
fauna published from 1974 s5 , and culminating in monographs on the
Australian ascidian fauna being published as volumes in the Memoirs*'.

The Balance Sheet

Inevitably, museum collections reflect the interests of the successive
curators, of the honorary associates of the institution, and of other donors
wlio have worked in the area. There are other groups of organisms not
well represented in the collections and some of these have not yet been
investigated — for the invertebrate fauna is vast and the number of
workers relatively few.

194

Bellenden Ker base camp in lowland
rainforest at the foot of the mountain
near the tower of the Telecom cable-car
used for access to stations along the
altitude transect up the mountain.

Bellenden Ker expedition leader Geoff
Monteith (left) and Ted Edwards from
CSIRO collect insects from a light trap
inside the forest.

In camp at Bellenden Ker pinning small
moths collected the previous night.

195

On the credit side, the museum holds important protozoan and
helminth collections; earthworms that formed the basis of the taxonomic
reviews of B.G.M. Jamieson of the University of Queensland; leeches from
L.R. Richardson's works on Queensland fauna; mites from R. Domrow,
Queensland Institute of Medical Resarch; ticks from F.H.S. Roberts,
CSIRO. There are comprehensive collections of spiders resulting from the
museum's own collecting efforts. Of the larger groups of insects, there are
good collections of certain families of bugs, beetles and butterflies and
moths and an important collection of cockroaches. However, on the debit
side grasshoppers and crickets are not well represented, nor are flies and
many other insect groups. The collections of Chalcidoidea contain 3,000
species described by Girault — but there are many habitats yet to
be sampled and about 75% of the total number of species are estimated to
be as yet unknown. Collections of non-marine molluscs are growing and
constitute a unique resource, but there are many habitats yet to be
sampled and a large part of the fauna remains undescribed.

The purchase of an ISI Akashi Super II
scanning electron microscope in July
1977 greatly extended the museum's
research capacity, making possible
magnifications of the order of X10,000—
about 10 times that of the light
microscope — and projecting a three
dimensional image. Right: tarsal claws of
mygalomorph spider Namea capricornia;
Opposite page, top: rostrum/head of scrub
tick, Ixodes holocyclus. middle and
lower: sponge spicules.

196

In the marine field, the Crustacea from Moreton Bay mangrove
habitats are well represented in the collections. Good collections of
portunid, grapsid and xanthid crabs that formed the basis of the taxonomic
investigations of Stephenson, Campbell and Davie are held, as well as the
barnacles collected by Munroe. Collections of Isopoda came from N. Bruce,
D. Holdich and K. Harrison; and freshwater crayfish were donated by
G. Morgan. In addition the museum holds crustaceans from the
northeastern and northwestern continental shelf received, respectively,
from Queensland Fisheries Service and CSIRO, providing a resource for
future studies of deeper water faunas. The collections of the Ascidiacea
are a comprehensive representation of the Australian species, as are the
coral collections. However there are many other groups that await
investigation and there are many habitats still to be explored. The
museum has collections of echinoderms from Heron Island that formed
the basis of Endean's reports in 1953-65 * 7 but systematic surveys and
collections from other areas are lacking, as are identified collections of the
class Crinoidea. Taxonomy of Queensland sponges, bryozoans, polychaetes,
coelenterates other than corals and hemichordates awak investigation;
and the collections held in the museum require the attention of experts to
build them up to the level of a useful resource. Larger marine molluscs are
well represented although smaller species have not been sampled and, as
yet, little scientific work has been done on the collection. Larger
representatives of the benthic fauna in many phyla were taken from the
north-eastern continental shelf in a trawl survey exploring waters down to
300 metres. Deeper waters of the continental shelf have not been sampled;
nor have the smaller components of the fauna on the shelf.

There remains much to be done. The museum has never had the staff
establishment that included experts on every group— nor indeed has any
museum. By careful planning and judicious appointment of professional
staff, including honoraries, the museum has, since 1970. gradually been
building up its collections and its own taxonomic expertise. This will
continue until it can provide a comprehensive reference collection and
until the fauna of the state is understood. For it will be from this
foundation that ecological, physiological and chemical investigations can be
soundly based and the relationships and significance of all the components
of the fauna be determined.

197

PEOPLES

AND
LIFESTYLES

Anthropology

Many of the early colonists of Queensland who founded the
museum — Coxen and his friends in the Philosophical
Society — had broad, liberal educational backgrounds that
enabled them to dabble in many areas. This was also true of
others who had an association with the museum — members
of the board of trustees as well as the directors, de Vis, Hamlyn-Harris
and Longman. They were all interested in evolution, and the new concepts
proposed by Darwin included the evolution of man. Aborigines were
regarded as representing 'living exemplars of one of the earliest stages in
the evolution of mankind. Their social customs and material culture were
deemed an appropriate subject for museums which were fascinated by
evolution' 1 . Aboriginal anthropology was therefore seen as a branch of the
natural sciences and it was displayed 'in taxonomic classification
comparable to (that of) fossils or fauna' 1 . Eventually this view was to have
an unfortunate consequence, for in the 20th century it alienated
Aborigines, who did not accept that museums were protecting, rather than
exploiting, the material evidence of their culture. Nevertheless it was a
view that had ensured that aboriginal and other anthropological material
was collected by the Queensland Museum and, indeed, by the museums
of other colonies too.

Hair combs decorated with red, yellow
and black dyed cane strips from Malaita,
Solomon Islands, collected by Captain
W.H. Lawrence master of labour-trade
ships, and purchased by the museum in
1901.

"■"■■■WB©

European notions of a paradise in the south-western Pacific were an
additional influence on much of the collecting from the islands to the east
and north of Australia. Pacific cultural material— ranging from embalmed
heads to ornate spears and elaborately carved figures— was acquired by
curio hunters and in due course found its way into museums. In fact,
Pacific displays in museums appear to have been merely collections of
curios right up to the early 20th century. Gradually, as men saw the south-
western Pacific as less than paradisial, the emphasis changed and the
objects were classified and fitted into an evolutionary sequence in much
the way Aboriginal and other anthropological material had been from the
first.

Previous page: Message sticks from the
museum's collection discussed by
Hamlyn-Harris in 'On messages and
message sticks employed by the
Queensland Aborigines' {Mem. Qd Mus.
1918 6:13-36).

A 'tomahawk' from New Guinea donated on 24 April 1874 is the
earliest record for the museum's anthropological collections. However, the
inventory signed in February 1876 by A.C. Gregory, the first chairman of
the board of trustees, shows that at that date there were already 227
anthropological items — 171 from Australia, six from Torres Strait, 15 from
New Guinea, 25 from Island Melanesia and 10 from New Zealand . Thus, it
is probable that at least some of this material had been acquired earlier
than 1874. The status of these anthropological collections is clear: they

200

were relegated to the last section of the inventory — headed 'Curios.
Machinery, Weapons and Furniture'.

The South-west Pacific

By 1884 the anthropological collections in the museum had expanded
to about 700 items, over half of which were from the islands of the south-
western Pacific — a change had occurred in the ratio of Australian to
Pacific collections from that of 1876 that forshadowed a permanent bias.
It reflected the growing interest of Queenslanders in the neighbouring
islands and peoples as exploration revealed possibilities for trade, mineral
deposits and cheap labour for the state's burgeoning sugar industry.

imm

The exploitation of these peoples for labour— the labour-trade —
brought ships and men from Australia to the Pacific islands. Under
government regulations each labour-trade vessel had to be accompanied
by a government agent from the immigration department. These
gentlemen were often reasonably well educated in the Victorian tradition,
eager to do their bit for the advancement of science. They, in their turn,
influenced the less scholarly ships' masters and both — often from the
same vessel — collected zoological and, apparently as an afterthought,
ethnological material which they offered as donations or for sale to the
museum. Involvement in the labour-trade was often a violent and
dangerous occupation, especially to the islander recruits, but also to the
Europeans, Indeed, Douglas Rannie, previously a government agent and
a donor, collector and librarian at the museum, noted that —

mgm

**-. %f

•

M.+.U

Whilst engaged on the work of classification (of the Queensland
Museum collection) the names of former comrades as they recurred
on the contributors lists recalled many pathetic incidents and
associations of dear friends who sleep their last long rest beneath
the waters of the blue pacific or whose lone resting place is known
alone to the painted warriors of some savage isle-.

Details are revealed in the records themselves: spear that wounded
Captain J.W. Coath on the island of Espintu Santo — 18 March died 27
April 1874, donated by F.J. Pearce, government agent of the Jessie Kelly
on August 12, 1874; the Ramparamp effigy from Malekula donated on 27
August, 1883 by Mrs Belbin the widow of Captain R.J. Belbin shot and
killed on the neighbouring island of Ambrym the day after acquiring the
item.

The major part of the museum's collections from the Solomon Islands
and Vanuatu was acquired or collected (and donated later) during the
period 1885-1906. Donors included senior public servants connected with

Wan hau ceremonial batons. South
Malaiia. Solomon Islands collected by
Captain W.H. Lawrence master of
labour-trade ships in the 1890s,
Purchased by the museum in 1901-

201

Ancestral board from a men's house at
Maipua, Gulf of Papua, collected by Sir
William MacGregor and transferred to
the museum in 1894.

the immigration department, and politicians— notably Sir Thomas
Mcllwraith and Sir Samuel Griffith who were consistent political
opponents not the least over the labour-trade issue.

The New Guinea Connection

This was the age of imperialism and annexation. Suspicion of German
activities on the island of New Guinea, and perhaps a hope of more
recruits for the labour trade, led to the declaration of the Protectorate
of British New Guinea in 1884. The second special commissioner
administering that protectorate from 1886 to 1888 was an ex-premier of
Queensland, John Douglas, who was also on the museum board of trustees
concurrently with his New Guinea appointment. Two collections were
made during his administration, one for display at the 1886 Colonial and
Indian Exhibition, London and the other for the Queensland Court of the
Melbourne Centennial Exhibition of 1888. These collections were the
beginning of a systematic sampling of cultural items rather than the
random assortment of curios usually collected from this part of the world.
In the end, the New Guinea collections represented a remarkable and
almost unique archive of a people's 'lifestyle, which the collectors —
mistakenly— believed to be entirely unaffected by western European
incursions. The collections reflect foresight on the part of those who
made them and an understanding of the true role of a museum— an
understanding that is rarely found, even today.

The first collection, of some 178 items, was purchased by the
Exhibition's Queensland commissioners— who included two museum
trustees and the curator, and was intended as a donation to a proposed
colonial museum in London. Fortunately, the collection was returned to
Australia in error, and it was transferred to the Queensland Museum 3 .
The colonial museum didn't eventuate in any case. The second collection
was made by Anthony Musgrave of the British New Guinea administration
at Douglas' direction and was intended for the museum after the
exhibition had closed 4 - 5 .

Meanwhile the protectorate had been replaced by another form
of colonial government headed by a new administrator, Sir William
MacGregor, an Aberdeen-trained medical practitioner with previous
colonial experience in the Seychelles and Fiji 6 . Administration of the
colony of British New Guinea was unusual in that it was divided between
the Colonial Office in London and the separate self-governing Australian
colonies of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, each contributing
to its operation. All despatches to the Colonial Office were sent through
the governor-in-council in Queensland. During the early part of his
administration MacGregor looked to Queensland for aid in framing
ordinances, auditing accounts and so on, so it was a normal occurrence for
him to approach the Queensland government when he had to find a home
for the collection of several hundred artefacts from Musgrave's collection
at the close of the Melbourne Exhibition. MacGregor's intentions in regard
to this collection were made in a despatch to Sir Henry Norman, governor
of Queensland:

There was brought recently from British New Guinea a valuable
collection of bird skins and there are other articles of natural history
or ethnology collected by officers paid by the Government, and

therefore public property They are an asset of the Government of

British New Guinea, as they have been procured by its paid officers
but it does not appear to me that they should be kept in British New

Guinea It is therefore my opinion that it would be better that

provision were made in the public museum in Brisbane for the

202

proper exhibition of New Guinea collections, as a separate and
permanent branch of that establishment 7 .

Having received the agreement of the Queensland government
MacGregor proceeded to have further large collections made under his
direction. Initially these were zoological, the first ethnological consignment
of 2876 items not arriving until October 1892. He later stated his reasons
for undertaking this task:

The collection belonging to this Colony has been made with the
object of it possessing as full a set of arms, utensils, products of
different kinds, etc., as would illustrate its past and present position
in the future 8 .

and again later he observed —

Timely warning has been taken by the omission by Fiji, Hawaii and

some other places to secure collections of the natives before it is

too late 9 .

Knowledge of these collections apparently reached the British
Museum, for in late 1892 it requested through the secretary of state for
colonies, Lord Ripon, that the British New Guinea administration aid it in
the acquisition of ethnological collections from the Micronesian islands
and New Guinea. MacGregor suggested that a catalogue of the collections
in the museum should be forwarded to the British Museum for its
consideration. Charles de Vis, the curator, appears to have stalled — he
provided a manuscript catalogue that was forwarded to London. Augustus
W. Franks at the British Museum complained that the catalogue gave
insufficient detail 10 , and made a general request for items from a wide
range of localities, de Vis pointed out that due to the reduction in museum
staff— 1893 being a depression year — he had 'no longer the time to bestow
upon' the preparation of a systematic catalogue and that 'until the
catalogue is finished it would be injudicious to set aside for presentation to
other museums any objects which until critically examined may appear to
be duplicates. This has been done in cases which have been reported and
regrettably mistakes have naturally been made in consequence' 11 . He
therefore recommended that the matter of the transfer of material to the
British Museum be deferred, a conclusion with which the Queensland
premier and Sir William MacGregor concurred. By that time MacGregor
had amassed another large collection of 2136 items and this arrived in
Brisbane on 1 August 1894.

During a visit to Brisbane that year MacGregor gained the
impression, apparently in conversation with de Vis, that the museum
understood it had the right to exchange specimens from the British New
Guinea collections. He entirely dissented from this view, and formally
notified the Queensland governor a year later that he regarded 'the
Curator and Trustees of the Queensland Museum simply as custodians of
the British New Guinea collection and as possessing no power whatever to
alienate any article in the collection' 12 . Subsequent correspondence
between MacGregor and the Queensland government over the next twelve
months ended when the chief secretary Sir Hugh Nelson— also a donor—
informed MacGregor that the government had 'no desire to dispute the
propriety rights of British New Guinea to these collections' 13 . However
the chief secretary informed the governor (Lord Lamington) —

that notwithstanding their acquiescence in His Excellency's
(MacGregor's) views as to the ownership of these collections, the
Government are unable to regard with entire satisfaction the
conditions which they are understood by him to maintain a separate

Shield from the Trobriand Islands, Papua
New Guinea, collected by Sir William
MaGregor and transferred to the
museum in 1892.

Canoe washboard, Lower Fly River,
collected by Sir William MacGregor and
transferred to the museum in 1892.

203

Sir William MacGregor,

and permanent branch of the Queensland Museum for the
accommodation and care of property in respect of the accumulation
of which they have no power or control.

He concluded:

it is thought desirable that His Excellency should be asked to
propose some modification of his definition to the relations of the
Trustees of the Queensland Museum to the British New Guinea
collections which will not altogether leave out on account such
powers as are generally understood to accompany trusteeship 14 .

Sir William MacGregor graciously modified his own stand in a
despatch to Lord Lamington but he re-iterated his position in regard
to the collection 15 :

The first and most important point is to make this official collection
as complete as possible. To that I cannot but attach great importance,
knowing as we do how seldom efforts are made to form a collection
of that kind before it is too late. Its formation and preservation I have
watched with jealous care, but purely as a public question and from
the New Guinea point of view. I am now satisfied that it will be
preserved intact and will not be broken up and dispersed.

He then went on to suggest that the best specimens should be placed in
the British New Guinea collection and that duplicates might be disposed
of by the trustees, first to fill up vacancies in the national collection of the
contributing colonies and in the British Museum and the remainder might
be used as exchanges for the museum. These latter would 'be at the
disposal of the Queensland Government as some acknowledgement for
their co-operation in preparing and maintaining the British New Guinea
Collection, without whose co-operation it could not exist'. Despite the fact
that staff numbers had not changed since 1893 and that no catalogue had
been completed, collections were assigned late in 1897: 949 items to the
Australian Museum, Sydney; 833 to the National Museum of Victoria;
775 to the British Museum and 1635 to the Queensland Museum. The
remainder comprised the British New Guinea collection and the museum's
share of the duplicates, together with two further consignments that
arrived in December 1897 and October 1898.

The British New Guinea collection of some 3000 specimens was not
separately catalogued and, between 1908 and 1910, it was mixed with the
museum's share and the duplicates, and the whole lot came to be known as
the MacGregor Collection which in total comprised some 8000 specimens.
This was to cause immense curatorial heartache in the future.

During MacGregor 's administration in New Guinea 19 consignments
of anthropological and zoological material (notably birds) were sent to the
museum under the terms and conditions set out above. Anthropological
items numbered 11,500/the most magnificent collection of Papuan
specimens ever collected or ever likely to be collected' 16 , de Vis and other
museum staff provided scientific appendices for inclusion in MacGregor 's
British New Guinea Annual Reports (see Chapter 8), but he was
disappointed that the museum was unable to publish a printed catalogue
of his anthropological collection. Later, during his term as governor of
Queensland, MacGregor did have occasion to be pleased with the displays
set up by Director Hamlyn-Harris.

Protectors and Collectors

Although the museum classified and displayed Aboriginal
anthropological specimens, the staff actually collected ethnographic
materials very rarely. During Kendall Broadbent's long service he made

204

Photograph from Wanigela Village,
Collingwood Bay, Papua New Guinea, by
Percy Money about 1904-1910. One of a
series of 100 purchased by Hamlyn-
Harris and used in the display of
MacGregor material.

HCCtStTM Of THE

» ip, t,J

■

. ** aw}

cauciUN or new guinea

ctmnoux;*.

" s. A.

■ /

. ■

■ ■■■

■ '

■.'■■■ ■

Page from the MacGregor collection
register catalogued by Rowland Illidge
between 1918 and 1920.

205

only one small collection of 52 items from Cape York as early as 1884.
Henry Tryon made minor collections in the Bunya Mountains and the
Macpherson Range. A pattern had emerged for the Australian Aboriginal
as well as the Pacific collections — a dependence on outside sources for
acquisition.

A number of prominent Queensland residents were taking an interest
in Aboriginal material culture. Notable among them were Dr W.E. Roth,
Archibald Meston, Clement Wragge, Stephen Buhot, the Rev. N. Hey and
J.C. Coghlan. Public servants, a missionary and a grazier, they were all
donors or vendors of Aboriginal collections to the museum in the late
1890s and early 1900s. Between them they accounted for 77.5% of the total
Aboriginal collections in 1910 (3027 items). In 1897 the first two were
appointed, respectively, northern (later chief) and southern protector of
Aborigines. They were all making collections that reflected a culture that
was undergoing traumatic change as a result of the arrival of
Europeans— the moving frontier had rolled over the
Aboriginal people and they were already fringe dwellers.
Roth, a scholar, carried out intensive ethnographic
research in northern and north-western Queensland
between 1894 and 1905. In a letter to de Vis he wrote y

'I am trying to do good scientific work my chief

aim is to treat the northern ethnology from a
comparative point of view' 1T . He also made
collections 'I may tell you that I applied for and was

Pituri bag, used for carrying and storing
pituri— a nicotine drug from the plant
Duboisia, used and traded in western
Queensland. One of 207 items purchased
from JA Coghlan for £15.10.0 in 1897.

206

granted, a small amount of tobacco annually in order to purchase curios
from the blacks for your museum' 17 . Between 1900 and 1903 Roth passed
330 well documented items to the museum; and the government, through
the Home Secretary's Department, began publishing the first eight
bulletins of his North Queensland Ethnography, as it had his earlier work
Ethnological Studies among the North-west- central Queensland Aborigines.
He resigned in 1905 amid some controversy which included
his sale, to the Australian Museum in Sydney, of a collection of 2000
Aboriginal artefacts, a major part of which was certainly 'the property of
the Queensland Government' 18 . Robert Etheridge indeed 'made a brilliant

move when he acquired for the Australian Museum Roth's invaluable

collections from Queensland and arranged for the (Australian) Museum to
publish bulletins 9-18' 19 . It is not obvious why Roth would have abandoned
the Queensland Home Secretary's Department as the publisher of his
bulletins nor, indeed why he sold the specimens to the Australian
Museum for £400— a large sum in those days. Certainly there had been
rumours of his selling specimens as early as 1903 and perhaps he felt he
had to leave Queensland. He may even have been concerned about the
Queensland Museum's ability to conserve the material — de Vis, in 1905,
being 76 and the staff then being reduced to four (see Chapter 3).
However, if this was so, the mystery remains as to why he did not give,
rather than sell, the collection to the Australian Museum.

While Roth was a professional scientist, Archibald Meston, at various
times a member of parliament, journalist, editor and explorer, was, both

Necklace of mother-of-pearl stitched
with fibre string, purchased from C.L.
Wragge government meteorologist in
1900.

■"■;>

207

Rnmparamp mnerary effigy from
Malekuta Island. Vanuatu collected by
Captain K.J. Helbin of the labour-trade
vessel Borough Belle in mid-1883,
donated by his widow following his death
by gunshot on the neighbouring island of
Ambrym.

before and subsequent to his appointment as sou* hem protector oi
Aborigines, a collector and learned amateur, He was a keen observer but
many of his published accounts were written thirty or more years after the
events described. The museum acquired Queensland Aboriginal material
from him between 1892 and 1907 and, a& late as 1916, a further collection
from Melville (stand in the Northern Territory. Wragge, Queensland
government meteorologist, was a man of completely different stamp who,
in the course of his duties, travelled in the remote areas of western and
northern Queensland and made large collections of Aboriginal material
culture. He sold a large collection— in the vicinity of 900 items - to the
museum in 1901

Charles de Vis' major museologicai contribution began in 1892, when
he started three separate anthropological registers — for New Guinea, for
Australia and for the south-western Pacific Islands and elsewhere. They
were numerical registers and the entries ranged from meticulous to
slipshod, depending on workload and staffing levels. Importantly for later
curators de Vis not only described items but he measured them too— in
metric units.

After de Vis' retirement in 1905, C.J. Wild, in an acting capacity,
directed a gentle slide into the doldrums. During this caretaker period
donations were few although funds were found to purchase collections
fromMeston and Buhot. The new museum director, HamlvTi-flarris. was
appointed in 1910.

The Hamlyn-Harris Approach

Ronald Hamlyn-Hams' appointment had particular effect on the
museum's anthropological collections. He was the only director to profess
a personal interest in ethnology and his influence can be seen in the
collections, display, research and publication and public led arcs

As early as February 1911 he had distributed a printed circular to
police officers (as protectors of Aborigines), missionaries and teachers in
most centres of northern and western Queensland including the Torres
Strait. The pamphlet sought their help in making ethnological collections
for the museum. The replies were usually couched in the following terms
'Civilization has reduced the blacks in thus district to a very few, who
retain no weapons etc. of historic value' ■ and T am afraid so far as this
District is concerned that I will be unable to accede m your request as the
aboriginals have been (such) a number of years civilized that they have
abandoned using their native implements'- 1 . However, collections were
received that year from the more outlying centres of Croydon (Sgt
Sullivan), Mapoon Mission (Rev. N. Hey), Turn-off Lagoon via Burketown
(Const. E. Smith) and Mitchell River Mission (Mr H. Mathews).
Collections continued to filter in over the next six years as a result of this
circular and later there was some material from the chief protector of
Aborigines and other correspondents from Weipa, Aurukun, Coen,
Mornington Island, Cairns, Cardwell and Yam, Badu, York, Damley and
Murray Islands in the Torres Strait. The collections, together with a majQJ
purchase from the Cairns region made during Hamlyn-Harns' term, were
the last major Field collections of Queensland Aboriginal material culture
made for the museum before the mid-1970s. Collections were also
received from the Northern Territory notably Roper River, Melville Island
and Port Essington. During this period over 2800 items were added to the
Australian Aboriginal material culture collection— in seven years
Hamlyn-Harris had almost doubled the Australian collections.

He also arranged for collections to be made on the Fly River in Papua

206

All communications to be
addressed to the Director, IL
Hamlyn-Harris, D.Sc.,FM.M.S.,
F.Z.8., F.L.S., &c.

QUEENSLAND MUSEUM,

Brisbane, 191

Sir,

The Director of the Queensland Museum, presuming upon your
willingness to promote the growth of an Institution tending to the advantage
and reputation of the State, respectfully begs your co-operation in his endeavours
to further augment tin collections under his charge, and hi all Departments of
the Museum.

The richness of this Country in objects of Natural History cannot be
too fully represented in the National collections in their Mineral, Fossil, Animal,
and Aboriginal Departments.

Since the Aboriginal Tribes are fast dying out, every effort should be
made to acquire those symbols of the life of the original Australian inhabi-
tants, whose rites, ceremonies, customs, and traditions are becoming obsolete
and behi£ entirely lost to us.

The Director, therefore, appeals to you in the confidence that you will
take every opportunity of securing specimens of all kinds, and forward them
to the Museum.

Instructions as to the best methods of preservation will be gladly given
if desired.

1 have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your obedient Servant,

(Signed) R. HAMLYN-HARRIS,

Circular sent by Hamlyn-Harris to police
Director stations seeking help with collections.

209

A necklace of reed beads strung on 2-ply
fibre string from the Gulf of Carpentaria,
sent by Constable Martin in response to
Hamlvn-Harris' circular.

(Sir Rupert Clark Bt) and in various centres of occupied German New
Guinea (W. Potter) and purchased collections from the Gulf of Papua (S.G.
McDonnell) and the Solomon Islands and Vanuata (Mrs P. Tarnaros,
C.A. Bernays).

A new museum-wide system of registration was introduced in 191L
Hamlyn-Harris followed the recommendation of the Etheridge report
adopting and adapting the system used in the Australian Museum. Two
registers were begun for anthropology early in 1911; QE for Queensland
Aboriginal material and E for non-Queensland material. Later, in 1914, a
third register— NGE — was introduced for New Guinea material. All
incoming specimens were now documented and registered within days
of their receipt by the museum.

In 1913 J.H.P. Murray the lieutenant-governor of Papua had again
raised objections to the possibility of the museum exchanging items from
the MacGregor collection and requested that a catalogue be prepared.
Hamlyn-Harris vigorously denied that any material had been exchanged,
stating that the collection had 'been zealously guarded and since I have
been in charge not one single specimen has left the building' 22 . He agreed
to compile a register and in fact £50 was placed on the Papuan government
estimates for the financial year 1914-15 and sent to the museum to cover
the cost of cataloguing. Two copies of a specially printed MacGregor
(MAC) register conforming to the Queensland Museum format were
purchased and paid for by the Commonwealth government. Compilation of
the register began in 1915 but the work was laid aside due to depleted staff
and the £50 was returned upon Hamlyn-Harris's resignation.

The Etheridge report had criticised the sad state of the
anthropological displays especially the MacGregor collection The cases
are crammed to repletion, the specimens roughly sorted and not a label!.
Of what possible use is such a display?' 23 . Hamlyn-Harris initiated a
programme to modernize all the displays but particularly that of the
MacGregor collection. He also supervised the construction of the diorama
of the Aboriginal campsite which, with slight modifications, was exhibited
until November 1985 (see Chapter 4).

Hamlyn-Harris was a marine biologist, not an anthropologist. In the
manner of the time, this did not deter him from carrying out research and
publication in anthropology. Some of this was pedestrian, some interesting
and innovative and some archaic and still-born. Between 1911 and 1918 he
published thirteen papers in the Memoirs of the Queensland Museum and a
number of notes and comments in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of
Queensland. Eight of the articles dealt with Queensland Aborigines, two
with Torres Strait Islanders and four with Papua New Guinea and the
Pacific Islands. Perhaps his most interesting and best researched project
was a joint work with a chemist, Frank Smith, on fish poisoning and
poisons used by the Aborigines of Queensland' 24 . Here he combined his
own talents with his wide range of informants who, at his request,
collected the ethno-botanical specimens for the museum.

He was not a noted field worker, but he took the opportunity during a
lecture tour to the north in May 1914 to do some collecting on Aboriginal
campsites on Dunk Island and near Yarabah, the former in the company of
E.J. Banfield— journalist and author— who lived on Dunk Island and was,
perhaps, his most erudite correspondent and collector. In late 1915 he
again made an archaeological collection from Aboriginal shell midden
sites in sand dunes in the vicinity of Bargara near Bundaberg.

The series of popular science lectures at the museum introduced by

210

Hamlyn-Harris in 1912, as well as the lectures given in provincial towns,
always included some anthropological titles such as Primitive Man in
Australia (R. Hamlyn-Harris, 1912); Manners and Customs of the Salomon
Islanders (D. Rannie. 1914); Fossil Remains oj Man (A.B. Walker, 1916);
Aborigines and their Customs (R. Hamlyn-Harris, Bundaberg 1915).

In his seven years Hamlyn-Harris raised the status of the study of
anthropology within the museum, and consolidated and built up the
collections especially from Aboriginal Australia. As a result the collections
were, in so far as resources permitted, professionally documented and
curated and the displays were classified and well labelled by contemporary
standards.

The Longman Years, 1917-1945

Hamlyn-Harris resigned in September 1917 and was replaced by
Heber Longman who had been his senior scientific assistant since 191L
Longman was essentially a palaeontologist, his only real interest in I he
anthropological field was in physical anthropology. He published one paper
on human crania in the Memoirs tfl 1918, but a year later writing to
Professor A.C. Haddon in Cambridge he noted 'my time is now so greatly
taken up with routine and administration work that I am seldom able to
work at the crania' ■'-'. In fact, he published no further work in this area.
However, he was assiduous in gaining human skeletal material for the
collection, especially from the police, and in the early years of his tenure
he continued many of Hamlyn-Harris 1 programmes- However, he gradually
lost touch with most of his predecessor's anthropological correspondents
except E.J. Banfield, with whom he remained in close contact until the
latters death in 1924.

In July 1918, the £50 cataloguing grant from the Papuan government
was returned to the museum and Longman employed 'Mr Rowland Midge,
a well-known local naturalist** to continue the registration of the
MacGregor collection 'at a fee of £2.10.0 per week of 4 days working
from 10 am to 4 pm excluding one hour for lunch' 27 . He began in late
September, compiling both a register and a card catalogue. In October
Longman asked for and received a further £50 from the Papuan
government for display case and storage furniture. He also envisaged a
comprehensive printed catalogue prepared by an eminent 'specialist in
ethnology' and he twice mentioned the name of Dr Bronislaw Malinowski
in this context^"-' but was informed that he would not be available as he
would be 'leaving for England at an early date' i ". Malinowski was one of
the founders of the British structural-functional school of social
anthropology- 11 and considering his later published comments, that he had
'always had a certain amount of impatience with the purely technological

enthusiasms of the museum ethnologist and that he considered the

fetishistic reverence for an object of material culture is scientifically
sterile' :G , it is doubtful whether he would have undertaken the job.

The registration task proved to be so great that Longman sought and
received permission to use the Papuan governments extra £50 to continue
paying Wedge instead of purchasing display and storage furniture. Later a
further £10 was obtained before the project was completed in May 1920.
Illidge made a copy of the register in 1922 for the sura of 112 and it was
despatched to Papua. This copy appears to have disappeared from the
Papuan government anthropologist's office and bungalow in Port Moresby
when Australian militia troops rioted in February 1942.

Between 1919 and 1923 Longman continued to consolidate Hamlyn-
Harris' display work. New labels were prepared and all display items,

A bag from the rainforest in the Cartlwvll
area sent tram Constable Creedy in

ISC to Hamlyn-Han ir an

211

particularly Queensland Aboriginal material, were re-registered. A large
proportion of the reserve collections in storage were also re-registered to
the QE and E registers between 1924 and 1928.

Anthropological material donated or purchased during Longman's
time included a number of important collections notably from Dutch New
Guinea — Irian Jaya (H. Jackson 1920), the large Dr C.F. Marks collection
from Australia, New Guinea and the Pacific Islands (1920), the Lee Bryce
collection from North Queensland and Papua (1921), the Hartmann
collection from the Port Moresby region collected in 1887 (Toowoomba
City Council 1924), the Skertchly collection of European palaeolithic
implements (purchased 1926), the Denning collection from Fiji (purchased
1935), the Archbold Expedition collection from the Fly River (1937), the
Petrie Family collection from the Brisbane area (1939) and the W.S.
Chaseling collection from eastern Arnhem Land (purchased 1940).

Rainforest sword clubs illustrate the
adaptation of a new artefact for a
traditional use. This page: the traditional
article, collected in 1900; opposite page: a
sword club made from a cross-cut saw
blade, collected in 1915.

G.K. Jackson was appointed as a cadet in October 1937. He was a
naturalist with an interest in Aboriginal anthropology especially developed
during two years he spent in southwest Queensland before joining the
museum staff. He took over the day to day running of the anthropological
collections, becoming responsible for registration of incoming material,
working on displays and providing public information. He collected
archaeological material from sites in southern Queensland and published
a number of small papers in The Queensland Naturalist and the Memoirs.
Ken Jackson joined the 2/9 Battalion AIF in October 1939 and served with
it in the United Kingdom, North Africa, Syria and New Guinea. During his
service he visited as many museums as possible and even made
collections in Egypt, Syria and New Guinea. His absence from the museum
had a particularly detrimental effect on the anthropology collections.
Longman noted in a letter to Chaseling— the missionary from Yirrkala
in Arnhem Land who had sold, at cost, significant collections to many
Australian museums — 'As Mr Jackson of our staff, who is in charge of this
section, is abroad with the AIF, we shall not be able to do much until his
return' 33 . Lieutenant Jackson was killed in action in the 'swamps of
Sanananda' on 12 January 1943. In his will he left his private collection of
126 anthropological items from Australia and the Pacific to the museum.
Unfortunately his service revolver, also donated, was stolen from the
display gallery in a burglary in the 1970s. Due to war-time exigencies
Jackson's position, for which he had been credited with yearly salary
increments, was not filled after his death. Longman referred to this in a
letter to Colonel J.K. Murray, head of the Army School of Civil Affairs
(later first administrator of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea)
'As we have at present no specialist on our staff who is able to give full
time to ethnology, I regret that I am unable to give more assistance' 34 .
Storage space had also become a problem. In 1944 Longman was forced to
exchange a valuable Mornington Island raft with the South Australian
Museum because the museum had 'no storage space for it' 35 . In exchange
the museum received two plaster casts. Longman, now suffering from ill
health, retired in late 1945.

212

A Bleak Period, 1946-1965

Between 1946 and 1960, during much of George Macks
administration, the position of the anthropological collections was bleak.
Only a small proportion of the material donated was registered,
consequently some documentation has been lost, Ursula McConnell's
important collection from western Cape York, which had been deposited
on loan from the Australian National Research Council in 1935, had to be
sent to the South Australian Museum in 1948 because the museum felt
unable to store it adequately, was not interested in displaying it, and could
not provide an avenue for publication. McConnell published her paper
'Native Arts and Industries on the Archer, Kendall and Holroyd Rivers,
Cape York Peninsula, North Queensland' in the Records of the South
Australian Museum in 1953. Some of McConnell's material however was
passed to L.P. Winterbotham of the Anthropological Society of Queensland.
That same year Winterbotham founded the Anthropology Museum at the
University of Queensland, under his honorary curatorship. During the
next decade and a half, that museum, with the help of the Anthropological
Society became the centre for museum anthropology ir\ Queensland. The
Queensland Museum all but withdrew from the area, maintaining its own
substantial collections but not actively seeking donations and carrying out
field work only in emergencies. Storage conditions did not improve — to a
request from an American postgraduate student for information on the
number and locality of tapa cloth, Mack replied 'the way in which it is
stored make it almost impossible to state what there is in the way of tapa
cloth'*.

Mack was certainly conscious of the importance of the collections in
his care and indeed had endeavoured to obtain the services of a
professional anthropologist to curate them. However, having convinced the
public service commissioner of the need for such a position, it was some
time before he could make an appointment owing to the lack of qualified
people in Queensland. In April 1953, M.J.C Calley, an honours graduate in
anthropology from the University of Sydney w r as appointed assistant in
anthropology. There was an immediate clash both of personality and
theory. Calley was a social anthropologist of the British school and Mack
an old museum man. Calley resigned after four months to continue
postgraduate study and, before his premature retirement and death,
became a reader in anthropology - at the University of Queensland.
Ironically, he was one of those instrumental in ensuring that the
university's anthropology museum was professionally staffed and housed
in modem purpose-built premises in 1972.

Mack made no attempt to fill Calley 's position. For the remainder of
his directorship the anthropology collections were curated by the director
himself or by geologists, J.T. Woods and, after I960, A. Bartholomai, both
helped by museum assistants, notably BJ. Smith. From 1960, staff
increases allowed some field examination of archaeological sites.
Bartholomai together with photographer Stan Breeden surveyed and later
published two Aboriginal stone arrangements on the Darling Downs in
1960. Mack himself made one trip to Carnarvon Gorge and Injune in 1961
and preparator D. Vernon with Smith collected on Mapala Station in 1963.

213

When Jack Woods became director in February 1964, he moved
speedily to appoint a curator of anthropology. The position was advertised
late that year, but Woods anticipated difficulties, as he indicated to R.V.S.
Wright of the Department of Anthropology, University of Sydney, 'While I
realise that a suitable applicant may be difficult to find, I am very keen in
getting this position filled if at all possible' 37 . Eleanor Crosby, then a
temporary lecturer at the University of Auckland, was finally appointed in
April 1965. Her MA thesis commitments however delayed her arrival in
Brisbane until October 1965. Meanwhile field inspections of sites
continued to be made by other staff. A. Bartholomai and T. Tebble
examined Aboriginal stone arrangements in the Emmet district in May
1964.

Putting Things Right, 1965-1985

When Eleanor Crosby eventually arrived she began cleaning and
checking the collections, and registering the 19th century material —
untouched since 1929. In fact, she tried to unravel the mysteries brought
about by years of neglect. In two years Crosby and her assistant Penny
Wippell added over 3000 entries to the anthropology register (in contrast
to 266 entries between 1946-1960 and 709 entries between 1961-1965).

As the first permanent professional curator she also faced an
enormous problem in the collection storage area. The collections were
located in a number of separate nooks and crannies about the building; the
storage furniture itself was inadequate, most of the collections being
housed in galvanised iron storage tanks and old display cases, although a
small number of custom-built, lightweight and insect proof wooden
cupboards and drawer cabinets were in use. The mechanical damage due
to overcrowding coupled with the lack of a conservator caused her much
concern.

Because of the perceived need to concentrate on collection
management and the limitation on funds, research opportunities were few.
However, Crosby carried out archaeological fieldwork in the
Condamine River, Taroom and Carnarvon Ranges in 1966 and on the
Warrego River around Wyandra in 1967 and these trips resulted in
research reports in the Memoirs. Some display projects were undertaken
in conjunction with display staff, the most notable being the mini-diorama
of the Samford Bora ring (see Chapter 4).

Eleanor Crosby, curator of anthropology,
and Mary McKenzie, artist, measuring
dimensions of the Samford Bora Ring,
1965. Penny Wippell, assistant in
anthropology is standing at right.

214

Frustrated by the work situation, the lack of research opportunities,
unequal pay for female professional staff and the possibility of forced
resignation on marriage, and suffering a feeling of professional isolation —
that could have been alleviated had the Queensland Public Service had a
less parsimonious attitude towards professional development through
conference participation, Eleanor Crosby gave three months notice of her
resignation in early September 1967. She completed her PhD at the
Australian National University in 1973 becoming a curator at the Northern
Territory Museum and later a consultant archaeologist.

Michael Quinnell took over in February 1968. An honours graduate in
archaeology from the University of Sydney, he had previous museum and
field experience in Australia and India. Despite Eleanor Crosby's
endeavours the collection management situation was still very grim. A
mezzanine floor in the anthropology section, built after Crosby had left,
created a little more space but there were no new storage units to use in
this space.

Problems of collection management dominated staff activity for the
next few years. Crosby's forecast in her letter of resignation — that there

was at least three years work on the older coUections— proved reasonably
accurate. Some 4500 register entries were completed between 1968 and
1970 and another 1500 over the next five years. Inadequate storage proved
to be a longer term problem. As the 1972 annual report pointed out The
storage capacity for the anthropology collections has now reached an
optimum. In the present space situation any further introduction of
storage units will impinge on the already overcrowded work and office
space, even though the storage is still inadequate' 3 *. The overcrowded
storage, poor conditions including the lack of controlled environment,
increased use of the material and lack of conservation facilities that were
putting such strains on the collections and were so detrimental to their
condition were alluded to in the Piggott Report l . There was an
improvement in 1976 when Australian ethnography, now a separate section
under R. Hardley, moved into the south wing of the building that had been
vacated by the Queensland Art Gallery. The Melanesian anthropology and
Aboriginal anthropology and archaeology collections expanded into the
new storage cabinets that by 1979 filled the recently acquired space to

Geoffrey Mosuwadoga. director of the
Papua New Guinea National Museum.
ana Quinnell discussing the return of
specimens from the MacGrcgor
collection to New Guinea.

215

Quinnell with artists Mary McKenzie and
Eloise Gehrmann (right) cleaning chalk
marks off rock, Scrub Creek Aboriginal
engraving site.

Stencil art, Carnarvon Gorge, recorded
by a museum party led by Quinnell.

capacity. Storage was no longer at crisis point — it was merely inadequate.
The unavoidable damage that occurred, due to crowding and lack of
environmental controls, emphasised the need for conservation facilities
and trained staff. The appointment of a conservator, Neville Agnew, in
1980 and the slow build up of a temporary laboratory over the next few
years has only begun to address the effects of half a century or more of
neglect.

Meanwhile the MacGregor collection again came to notice. As early as
1969, questions were being asked by members of the Territory of Papua
and New Guinea administration about the ownership of a number of
anthropological collections held in Australian museums. The matter was
raised at the 1970 and 1972 meetings of the Conference of Australia
Museum Directors by representatives of the Papua New Guinea Museum.
Quinnell had been independently researching the origins of the
MacGregor material as part of a collection management exercise and this
led him, in 1973, to an intensive examination of source materials in
museum, state and commonwealth archives. Legal interpretations of these
documents resulted in the announcement by the Queensland premier in
late 1974 that, in principal, the collection would be returned when the new
Papua New Guinea National Museum building in Port Moresby was
completed and that both museums would confer on the selection and
transfer of the collection. Informal and cordial discussions at curatorial
and directorial level, initially with expatriate staff, were then instituted
and continued for a number of years. Close relations were established, and
Director Alan Bartholomai was an official guest at the opening ceremony
of the Papua New Guinea National Museum in its completed building in
1977. By this time the Papua New Guinea staff had taken control and a
typical Melanesian consensus was achieved when, in mid-1979, agreement
on cataloguing and selection procedures was concluded. A pilot selection
of shields from the MacGregor Collection to be returned to Port Moresby
was made in February 1980 by the Papua New Guinea Museum director,
Geoffrey Mosuwadoga, and the Queensland Museum's curator, Quinnell.
At the same time a joint meeting of the boards of trustees of the two
institutions was held to formally conclude the agreement whereby a
substantial portion of the collection would be returned to Papua New
Guinea, while that part of the collection to be retained in Queensland, in
keeping with Sir William MacGregor's instruction, would have a separate
identity in the museum collections and would be maintained in perpetuity
for education and scientific purposes. By 1985 six selections had taken
place, some 2100 items being returned to Papua New Guinea and 1697
retained by the Queensland Museum. In the vicinity of 4000 items remain
to be selected in this continuing cooperative programme.

In 1968 the anthropology and archaeology section of the museum was
responsible for Melanesian and Aboriginal ethnography— the extant
cultures and lifestyles— and archaeology— past cultures and lifestyles. It
was staffed by the curator and one assistant and was even further
overloaded by the negotiations about the MacGregor collection. In
particular, the items that comprised MacGregor's Papua New Guinea
collections which, between 1908 and 1910, had been mixed with the
museum's share and the duplicates, had to be identified. An extra
assistant, Janet Buhmann, was appointed in 1974 to concentrate on the
indexing and stocktaking of the MacGregor collection. She was succeeded
by Arthur Palmer who between 1976 and 1979, not only continued her
work, but also photographed each item.

216

Meanwhile, in 1974 Richard Robins was appointed on a 12-month
grant from the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies to catalogue
Aboriginal ethnographical collections. Roger Hardley, who had succeeded
Wippell in 1968 as the permanent assistant in the section, had begun to
specialise in Aboriginal ethnography. When, in 1975, Aboriginal and Torres
Strait ethnography became a separate section, Hardley became its curator.
Julia Findlay, a graduate in anthropology, assisted him from 1982 to 1985,
specialising in Torres Strait material.

Thus from 1975, some of the load— Aboriginal ethnography— had
been lifted from Quinnell's shoulders. However, he was still deeply
involved with the Papua New Guinea material, and Aboriginal
archaeological items were being rapidly acquired by the museum as it was
now the official repository under the Aboriginal Relics Preservalion Act
1968. A solution was found by appointing an archaeologist to the position
vacated by Palmer. Thus Robins, who had been working in the archaeology
branch of the Department of Aboriginal and Island Affairs since leaving
the museum four years earlier, was reappointed to deal with Aboriginal
archaeological collections. Norma Richardson succeeded Robins in 1984
and, with two Aboriginal trainees, Lori Richardson and Shane Rawson,
implemented the system Robins had developed.

■

Quinnell (centre foreground) surveying
Aboriginal rock shelter, Oakey Creek,
Carnarvon National Park.

Joint museum and University of
Queensland archaeological excavation in
south-eastern Queensland in 1968.

217

In the Field, 1968-1985

Despite the pressures of collection management, the sections of
Australian ethnography and of anthropology and archaeology carried
out field work throughout the state from the time they were established.

Archaeological investigations by Quinnell between 1968 and 1970 were
confined to local small-scale excavations on the Gold Coast and surveys
and site examinations for the Department of Aboriginal and Island
Affairs — at Cooktown, Townsville, the Carnarvon Ranges, the coast and
its hinterland both north and south of Brisbane and on Stradbroke Island.
During the survey on Stradbroke Island Quinnell was detained by the
police after he had been reported as behaving suspiciously with a coloured
stick — a painted surveyor's ranging pole. In 1969 he recorded Aboriginal
rock art near Gatton. Then, in a series of eight field trips between 1970
and 1975 that were funded by grants from the Australian Institute of
Aboriginal Studies and the Department of Aboriginal and Island Affairs,
Quinnell recorded and researched Aboriginal rock art in the Carnarvon
Ranges. Museum photographer Allan Easton usually accompanied him on
these trips. This work 'yielded a detailed description of a Central
Queensland art body and defined the general framework for future work
in the area' 39 . In 1975 Harley participated in archaeological work on
Moreton Island.

In ethnographic field work between 1975 and 1977, made possible by
grants from the Aboriginal Arts Board of the Australia Council, Hardley
photographed and documented items of traditional and transitional
material culture at the Edward River settlement on Cape York (with
Easton); at Mornington Island and Aurukun; and at Kowanyama, Bamaga
and Thursday Island (with Palmer). Palmer participated in a Queensland
Museum-Queensland University Anthropology Museum ethnographic
investigation in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Archaeological surveys and excavations were also conducted by
Robins on Moreton Island in 1979 and 1980; and between 1980 and 1983 he
began ethnoarchaeological work in north-west Queensland at Lawn Hill
Gorge, on the Wellesley Islands, at Wujal Wujal on Cape York and at
Doomadgee. Findlay participated in ethnographic field work in the Tully
area in connection with preparations for a new Aboriginal display. Grants
from the Australian Heritage Commission to re-examine and document

Michael Quinnell, curator of
anthropology from 1968.

218

archaeological sites from which the museum already held items became
available from 1980 to 1985 and funded the appointment of Norma
Richardson and after her appointment to the permanent staff, the
appointment of her successor Harvey Johnston.

Maintaining an interest in Papua New Guinea, Quinnell made field
collections there during 1983 and made arrangements for the Papua New
Guinea Museum to collect material for the museum in the future.

During these years most collection-based research by staff has been
carried out as part of collection documentation procedures. An example of
work of particular significance is that of Robins, Buhmann and M. Cause
on the identification of woods used in Aboriginal spearthrowers. This
demonstrated some of the inbuilt biases in museum collections that were
made from a society undergoing rapid change. This is in part due to the
museum's past role as a passive rather than active collector, dependant on
donors from all walks of life who (with the exception of W.E. Roth) 'had no
anthropological training and were neither sympathetic nor responsive
towards the complexity of aboriginal society'. The collections show a bias
'towards the secular, technologically curious and materialist aspects of
Aboriginal life' 4 ". For instance, while spears, boomerangs, stone axes and
ceremonial objects were prized objects to these collectors, the simple
humble objects of the people's lives— the objects used by the women,
such as their digging sticks, were largely ignored.

Change, a continuum

No culture is static, for change occurs continuously. In indigenous
Australian Aboriginal and Pacific Islander societies, influenced by
European cultures and 20th century technologies and political and
religious philosophies, change has been, and continues to be, rapid. These
societies have gained high profiles in the world — overseas colonies have
become nations and, in Australia, European cultures and peoples are
changing too. Dynamic and adaptive societies respond to internal as well
as external stimuli and cultures change accordingly.

The objects in museum anthropological collections are the raw data
from which information can be derived about a culture now and in the past
and about the modes, rates and directions of change. Collectors'
backgrounds affect the content and context of the collections and the
regions represented; and the perceptions of the observer are subjective —
affected by personal and cultural influences. However, the objects
themselves are real and true and the information that is contained in them
is accurate and objective— for they are the material evidence, free of the
interpretive ambiguity and the bias of written records.

A museum does preserve the evidence and the information but it
does not preserve a culture, for a culture is a product and a part of a
people's lifestyle.

When it moves to its new accommodation in South Brisbane the
museum itself will be changing— by increasing and improving access to
the collections and the information contained therein. Increased access
will lead to increased participation by the community, and particularly by
Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, in research,
education and display . Thus will they satisfy their needs to identify with
their own cultural past and present and will recognise their part in the
continuum of their peoples' histories.

Ceremonial mask, named Gasama, made
by Ambram of Marawat Village, Yuat
River, East Sepik Province, Papua New
Guinea. Collected by PJ. Hallinan in 1982
and purchased by the museum in 1983.

219

MAN AND
MACHINES

History and
Technology

Previous pugt : Attendartl Len Taylor, with
Ben Holder's AVRO Bah before its
restoration by the Queensland Aero Club
(photograph by courtesy the Conner Mail).

The members of the new coiony who sought intellectual
stimulation from one another at meetings of the Philosophical
Society were interested in, and presented papers on, a wide
range of subjects, including the technology of the day. William
Pettigrew, one of the mechanically minded members, spoke on
drainage, shipbuilding, railways and timber, usually illustrated by models.
Charles Tiffin, colonial architect responsible for the first Brisbane Hospital
building on its present site, gave an important paper on earth closets— one
then on trial at the hospital he had designed himself. John Waugh, a
medical practitioner spoke on spectrum analysis with a demonstration of
his spectroscope; James Thorpe spoke on meteorology; and William
Brookes on cotton growing in Queensland 1 . However, this interest in
technology did not extend to the collection of objects of a technological
nature. With the exception only of the microscope donated by Tiffin and
some Stereoscopic photographs donated by Daintree, the society's
collection consisted solely of natural history items. The first permanent
staff member, Custodian Karl Staiger was also the government analytical
chemist, but although he gave several papers on technological subjects as a
member of the Philosophical Society he does not appear to have seen the
museum in the context of technology. The staff members who succeeded
Staiger were geologists and zoologists and the emphasis on natural history
collections persisted — an emphasis that was reinforced in 1910 in the
report to the premier by Robert Etheridge jnr, director of the Australian
Museum in Sydney'.

Curios, Machinery, Weapons and Furniture

As early as April 1881, the board of trustees had decided to press the
government to allocate funds for a technological branch of the museum,
but nothing further seems to have happened at that time. By 1S84 there
was no space:

There are many subjects of public interest which the Museum fails
to illustrate fur want of room. Mining appliances and processes,
metallurgy, chemistry and its trade products, raw and manufactured
materials of food and clothing, building materials, textiles and textile

materials and wares — these with others should be sufficiently
represented to assist in the rise and progress of colonial industries
but they demand space :t .

Nevertheless, the shortage of space did not affect the expansion qf
the zoological, geological and ethnographic collections. Lack of space was a
rationalisation— the excuse given for the fact that the development of
technology collections was low on the list o\ priorities lor (he museum.
Despite this, technological and historical items were gradually being
acquired.

The first technological items in the collection came in 1873, from
Richard Daintree. As government geologist for north Queensland he had
gained a wide knowledge of the geology and the potential for mining.
When he became agent general for Queensland in London he heLped to
promote mining development in Queensland by sending to the museum
five cases of models of mining equipment then in use in the Cornish | in
mines 4 .

The next reference to items of historical and technological relevance
occurs in the earliest surviving complete inventory of the collection,
carried out in 1£76 for the board of trustees'. Among the mineral and
natural history specimens listed there is a single section entitled 'Cunos,
Machinery, Weapons and Furniture', which lists 36 objects belonging to

222

the areas now covered by the history and technology section. The first
two, a pair of 'Hindoo' bracelets and an English knitting sheath, are still
in the collection. Some of the others lack sufficient description to allow
certain identification. An ivory Chinese pagoda donated by Mrs J.
Stephenson in September 1883 6 is also still in the collection and has
featured in various displays over the years. An additional Chinese item
was acquired in April 1898 when the board made one of its few purchases
for the history collection— a Chinese mandarin's suit from Captain W.H.
Blake for £5. Over the next few years Captain Blake provided the museum
with further interesting examples of Chinese crafts and items collected
during the Boxer rebellion.

In 1887 a fine donation of ancient pottery and glassware, collected in
Cyprus by Mr S. Brown, a member of the British team excavating there,
had been presented to the museum by his sister, Iris Brown. Seeking a

On display on the verandah of the
museum in 1922: Mary Watson's water
tank, in which she, her baby and a
Chinese servant fled from Lizard Island.

223

Mephisto, World War 1 German Tank A7V
Kampfwagen. Above : at Vaux, France,
after its capture: centre: arriving in
Brisbane; below: hauled into the museum
grounds by two City Council steam
rollers in 1919.

224

better representation of the material being excavated in the Middle East,
Director de Vis wrote to the director of excavations, Beni Assan, in April
1904, applying for a share in the distribution of Egyptian antiquities \ A
promise was received that the museum would share in future finds.
Shortly after, a collection of Egyptian pottery was received, although
whether or not it was in response to the initial request is not known. It
was excavated at Esna and Hierakonopohs for the University of Liverpool
by John Garstang, and accessioned, without description, in the donor
register as D 72673, dated 21 August 1905. Subsequently, this Egyptian
material was mistakenly reaccessioned with the Cypriote items donated
in 1887. It was not until 1981, when an inquiry was received from the
Department of Egyptology at University College, London, that the mistake
was discovered and the two collections were once again correctly
attributed.

Although much of the material added to the collections at this time
was donated, the director and the board did make some effort to develop
the museum's technological and history collections. However the nature of
many of the items acquired —donations as well as those that the museum
bought — suggests that Australians did not regard their own artefacts as
particularly interesting or significant, while objects from the Orient and
from archaeological sites in the Middle East did excite their curiosity and
interest. Further, apparently Queensland was seen in the context of an
English colony and, in the first instance, the trustees invariably sought
help from the great museums m London. At this time the museum's role
was regarded as primarily educational rather than archival.

Toward a Technological Branch

In 1880 the new curator, W.A. Haswell. corresponded with the
colonial secretary proposing that measures be taken to obtain specimens
(in England) for a technological branch of the museum 8 . However, with
Haswell's resignation at the end of that year the proposal lapsed for
several years. Haswell's successor, de Vis. had developed some technology
exhibits for the Manchester Natural History Museum before he came to
Australia 9 and he set about developing similar displays in Queensland. He
obtained samples of local wool for the proposed technological branch, and
he had some success in persuading the board to further actions, de Vis'
influence can be seen in the board minutes of 7 November 1882:

In view of the importance of establishing a technological branch of
the Museum it is suggested that application be made to the Science
and Art Department, South Kensington, lor a grant of the
publications issued by it, also of such illustrations of the materials,
Constituents and adulterations of food and of the components of the
body as it may be disposed to offer.

Again the response to the request took some time. In July 1885 the
board requested that details be obtained of progress in forming the food
and adulteration collection — three years after the initial request 1 ". By
April 1886 the curator was able to report that a food collection was being
prepared in London for the museum. It finally arrived in 1887 ll .

In June 1886 a W.A. Allen contacted the museum offering help in the
formation of a technical museum. At the board meeting at which the offer
was considered the following statement of intent was made'-; 'Provision
having already been made for a food collection, it is thought advisable to
add a collection of drugs and other objects of technical interest which
might be transferred to a Technical Museum if such should at any time be
established'. This is the first comment from the board on the possibility of

225

The AVRO Avian Cirrus flown on the
first solo flight from England to Australia
by Bert Hinkler. Acquired by the
museum in 1929.

a separate technology museum. At the same meeting the curator was
authorised to procure photographic apparatus for the museum for
research.

During 1888 the museum arranged to obtain standards of weight
and volume through the agent general in London u and it maintained
responsibility, in Queensland, for weights and measures for many years
after.

There was only a small amount of Australian material received during
these early years. In 1887 Elizabeth Coxen presented a portrait of her
husband, Charles Coxen, founding father of the museum. At the end of
1888 a significant addition to the small technology collection, the model of
the Queensland government's new steam yacht, Luanda, was placed on
display 14 . A model of cattle station yards, prepared by Mr FA Blackman,
was on display at the museum briefly, before shipment to London for the
Colonial and Indian Exhibition in 1886. In April the next year, Mr
Blackman donated the yards, now safely returned from England, to the
museum where they have been regularly displayed ever since. Blackman
became a member of the museum board of trustees in 189L

In the museum board's annual report for 1888 Curator de Vis once
again referred to the view that lack of space prevented development of
the technology collections, de Vis stated 'the proposal to establish a
technological department must remain in abeyance from sheer want of
space'. This was the last mention of the possibility of a technological
section for some time, as the state moved into a period of severe financial
depression in the 1890s. The application of technology to the museum's
general operation continued, however, with approval for the curator to
purchase a typewriter in October 1892.

In December 1894, in another effort to improve the technological
collections, the curator requested, through the agent general in London,
specimens of porcelain products from Sir H. Doulton & Co. B . A competitor
for items that were of interest to the museum now appeared. At the same
board meeting, in April 1895 at which a favourable response from Doulton
and Co. was received, it was reported that —

226

By order of the Colonial Secretary, issued with the consent of the
Secretary for Public Instruction, the portrait of the Queen, the bust
of Justice Mein and the vase of Doulton Ware herefore in the
Museum had been removed to the National Art Gallery, no letter of
request or of acknowledgement having been received 16 .

C.S. Mein, had been a prominent member of the Philosophical Society
from 1869. As minister for Public Works he had supported the moves for a
museum building and when that failed had appointed Coxen honorary
curator in 187L Since this was the event that signalled the government's
commitment to the museum, C.S. Mein could be said to one of the more
significant people in its history. The bust of Mein was therefore an artefact
that was of particular relevance to the museum's collection. Although the
trustees received an apology, the items stayed in the art gallery. Overlap
of interest in the area of decorative and applied arts between the

The AVRO Avian Cirrus on display in the
Exhibition building from 1929 until the
museum closed in November 1985.

Queensland Museum and the Queensland Art Gallery had begun and has
continued over the years, though generally on more amicable terms than
those of this inauspicious beginning.

In fact, in 1930, the Queensland Art Gallery moved into the concert
hall section of the Exhibition building in Gregory Terrace. For the next 44
years it was the close neighbour of its sister institution, the museum— by
then installed in the exhibition hall and basement of the same building.
That the institutions co-operated well is illustrated in a remarkable
incident that resulted from the vigilance exercised by the museum's chief
preparator, D.P. Vernon, and culminated in the art gallery's acquisition of
one of the state's most treasured works of art 17 . Vernon found, in the
basement of the museum, a beautiful red wax, bas-relief sculpture, glazed
and in a gilded, though shabby frame. On it, a pencilled note, possibly of
Longman's— the director from 1918 to 1945— read: 'cf. Bologna Italian late
16th century'. Mack, the director at the time, received advice that the
sculpture was not of any importance. However, Vernon's belief in the
pencilled attribution persisted. He cared for the sculpture, and eventually,
in 1965, the director of the art gallery discovered, following
correspondence with the Victoria and Albert Museum, that Vernon was
right. It was, indeed, the lost model called The Flagellation of Christ

227

One oi the treasures from the
Queensland Museum's horological
colleclion, a bracket cluck by the great
clock maker Thomas Thmpi i4ty1. U

was made in the early ibth century and
presented to ihr museum in 1954 bv
Mrs. A.R Marks,

created by Giovanni de Bologna, a contemporary- of Michelangelo.
Originally it was one of six wax models that were later cast in bronze for
the Grimaidi Chapel in Genoa- The sculpture was presented by the
director. J.T. Woods, on behalf of the museum, to Sir Leon Trout who
received it on behalf of the ail gallery on 1 December 1965.

Following the move of the museum to the Exhibition building during
1900 the curator's report of January 1901 detailed the layout of displays.
His comment that 'Our industrial materials are not represented as such in
any way' gives an indication of the museum's lack of success in building up
a satisfactory collection for its intended technological branch in spite of
the avowed intention, expressed repeatedly over the years, to do BO.
Despite this overall failure many significant items were preserved through
the museum's effort during the latter part of the 19th century. With the
move into the new building and the 20th century things did not improve
markedly.

In August 1903 a number of manufacturers' samples, collected in
England by the agent general, were displayed at the National Association
Show by the Geological Survey Department* These items were suggested
as forming a good beginning for an industrial department of the museum.
The question of soliciting more items was raised at a board meeting in the
expectation that the concert hall space in the new premises would be
handed to the museum in a few months^. Neither happened.

Soon after Hamiyn- Harris took over as director in 1910 he initiated a
imvv series of collection registers, including the A register, which started

" February 1911 This register included many of the items of history
and technology in the collection, as well as archival and photographic
items that had previously been recorded in the donor registers, or had not
been recorded at all. Oddly, it also included natural curios such as the
inevitable two headed chickens beloved of early museum visitors. Thus,
although the A register is not an entirely reliable guide to the rate of
increase in historical and technological collections, it does give some
indication of their growth. At the end of its use in August 1966 number
A4519 was the final entry. The rate of growth of the collections had been
very slow indeed and there is, regrettably, no evidence that Hamlyn-
Harris applied the same diligence to the historical and technological
collections as that which he had so successfully brought to bear on the
collections in zoology, geology and anthropology.

In 1882 the museum had obtained a typewriter; and in 1886
photographic equipment. The telephone, introduced to Brisbane in 1S80,
was connected to the museum in 1885 m The museum's failure to develop
technology collections during these early years is surprising when at the
same time it was so quick to use new technology for research and
administration.

Elsewhere in Australia, the Industrial and Technological Museum
(later the Science Museum) was founded in Victoria in 1870, taking over
the mining and agricultural collections from the National Museum of
Victoria. The Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney was
founded in 1880 as a result of interest created by the international
exhibition staged there in 1879^ ■'•. Brisbane's own small
international exhibition, in the Exhibition building in Bowen Park already
under consideration as a home for the museum, was not held until 1897 ^
and did not provide the stimulus for any significant change in the
collecting interests of the museum.

The empha&is on primary production, and the lack of development

228

of significant secondary industry also contributed to lack of interest in
technology collections, compared with Sydney and Melbourne. The
Industrial and Technological Museum in Victoria was heavily oriented
towards educating the population to develop local industries 22 . The
founding of the University of Queensland in 1909 lessened the likelihood
of the museum being able to build up technology collections for use in
education; while the Royal Historical Society at Newstead House, rather
than the museum, acquired many of the items significant in early
exploration and settlement of the state.

Heber Longman, in taking over as director in 1917, sought to redress
this situation. In 1918 he appealed to both the Royal Historical Society 24
and the University of Queensland 25 : 'With a view to building up a distinct
section of historical objects with local associations, I am endeavouring to
supplement the few specimens of this nature now in the Queensland
Museum. Any assistance by your society would be appreciated'. The rate
of growth of the collections following this appeal does not indicate that
there was any dramatic response to it. However, during Longman's time
as director the two most important items currently in the museum's
technology collections were acquired. These were the World War I
German A7V fighting tank Mephisto, and Bert Hinkler's famous AVRO
Avian, in which he completed the first solo flight from England to
Australia. These two items are now firmly associated with the museum.

It was a minor accident to the AVRO Avian that ensured its
preservation in Queensland. The under carriage had been damaged in
a heavy landing at Hinkler Park, Bundaberg, in September 1928. While
Hinkler was waiting for it to be repaired he received an attractive flying
offer from an aircraft manufacturer in England. Although he would have
preferred to fly back to England, there was a possibility of a long wait
before the Avian could be repaired and a maritime strike forced him to a
quick decision to go by sea— taking one of the last boats to leave Australia
before it became isolated by the strike. He left the Avian with his family in
Bundaberg until, early in 1929, he offered it to the Queensland
government with the hope that it would be of educational value to young
Queenslanders. It was a generous gesture— the plane was costly for
Hinkler to replace— made in appreciation of the public's interest and
support. QANTAS staff carried out minor repairs on the plane, and
transported it to Brisbane where it was exhibited at the annual RNA show
of 1929. It was then moved into the museum, where it was displayed,
suspended in a flying position, until 29 January 1986 when it was lowered
in preparation for the move to South Brisbane

The museum also holds what is thought to be the sextant belonging
to Edmund Kennedy, the leader of the ill-fated expedition to Cape York in
1848. In an attempt to retrieve the expedition's equipment, a party led by a
Captain Simpson subsequently returned to the place on the Escape River
where Kennedy had been speared by Aborigines. There, on searching
under a bush among the leaves, the horizon glass of a sextant was found 26 .
In 28 January 1937 an article in the Courier Mail recounted how a party
surveying for stock routes had come across further relics of Kennedy's
expedition. Perhaps it was this reminder that resulted, some two months
later, in the museum receiving a parcel containing an ebony sextant — its
horizon glass missing, a sailor's jacknife, a shell ornament and an
Aboriginal dilly bag. There was neither a message nor a return address
either on or in the parcel. At about the same time Director Longman,
received a letter from an A.R. Meldrum, a newsagent at Cooktown. It read:

Arnold Sweetser, technician in the
museum 1966-74, a man of diverse skills.

229

The Commissariat Store in 1978.

Mt M. O'Shea has asked me to send y<>u wnne information
connected with the murder of Kennedy the explorer also some relic
he has in connection with same- 7 .

At first, Longman did not connect the parcel with the relic referred to
in Meld rum's letter. He replied to the latter asking if O'Shea had any
further information, referring him to Jade's account of the expedition*,
and offering to pay freight on any 'small relics suitable for exhibition* 28 .
Nine days later— possibly after he had done sotne research, he did realise
that the contents of the parcel were the suppose! relics. '1 am assuming
that the Sextant and Knife are specimens associated by Mr O'Shea with
the Kennedy Expedition' B . He asked where the objects had been found,
but did not receive a reply. Then, in September, four months later,
Professor Richards of the University of Queensland forwarded a letter
from Cmdr T.F. Roberts who was involved with a nautical survey on Cape
York Peninsula for the Department of Harbours and Marine. Roberts
wrote:

•Id boot-maker joined the ship in Cooktown and spun me the
following yarn. Many year* ago he fcrei prospecting up the Pascoe
River and came across some nomad blacks, one of whom (an old
gin) had a sextant In her dilly bag. He persuaded them to give him
the instrument and firmly believed H had belonged to an explore!
named Kennedy who was killed by blacks up in that country w .

Roberts went on to say that O'Shea had got Meldrum to parcel up the
articles and send them to the museum; and he gave the address of
O'Shea's son who later brought his father to Brisbane to see the articles or*
display in the museum. Longman said, in his letter of acknowledgement to
O'Shea's son 11 , u is seldom that we receive historical specimens of such
interest as these relics \

Although it has not been possible to prove that the items are correctly
attributed, the sextant is oi the right age, its horizon glass is missing and
T.F. Roberts, in 1985, recalled O'Shea's strong conviction that it had
belonged to the explorer

Another fine gift during Longman's term started the museum's
horological collection. In 1919 the museum received, from the Victoria and
Albert Museum, twelve watches and five watch movements from the 18th
and 19th centuries, duplicate material from the collection of Evan Roberts.
In 1954 there was another gift of four splendid clocks from Mrs AH.
Marks on behalf of her late husband. Dr Ail. Marks. Two of these, a
Thomas Tompion bracket clock and an Eamshaw chronometer, are of
particular importance and mark the beginning of the recent growth of the
collection.

The Hall of Science Industry and Health

While there was organised community support for the museum in the
days of the Philosophical Society only at one other time did this happen
again. It began after World War 11 with the surge of interest in science and
technology that occurred then. In about 1947 the idea of developing a
technological museum in Brisbane was raised by the Queensland
Electrical Institute — an organisation concerned with the proper training
of those engaged in the electrical industry. The museum proposal was
supported by a number of technical and professional organisations* 19 .

As a result a Commn I lie Development of a Technical Museum

was formed and in April 1949 a letter signed by J.S. Johnston as chairman
of the committee was forwarded to Premier E.M. Hanlon MLA, urging that
in parallel with the Queensland Museum there should be established a

230

iai-'

Brisbane 1856. The Commissariat Store,
built in 1829, is the building half way up
the hill in the centre of the picture-
partly obscured by the boat-builder's hut
and store on the wharf. Today it is one of
the two buildings of the convict era to
survive (photograph by courtesy Oxley
Library).

Ian Sanker, curator of industrial
technology, and Michael Quinnell,
curator of anthropology and archaeology
working on the excavation of the
Commissariat Store, 1979.

The brick-lined underground drains of
the Commissariat Store.

231

'Museum of Science, Industry and Applied Arts', Collecting material was
not considered to be a problem, as much was already available, but
accommodation and staffing obviously required state government funds.

The proposal was referred to the director-general of Education who
supported the arguments for a technological museum, but the Public
Service Commissioner's Department concluded that satisfactory
accommodation was neither available nor in sight; further, at the time,
suitably qualified staff would be difficult to obtain and such as were
available were wanted by other government departments. The outcome
was that 'the question will be reviewed by the Government on a more
opportune occasion'.

The idea then seems to have lapsed until 1963 when two of the
original supporters, I.O. Marsh a senior engineer with the City Electric
Light Co. and John O'Hagan of the Red Cross Blood Bank, discussed with
Professor S.A. Prentice of the University of Queensland the possibility of
reopening the matter, but no plan of action emerged. However, a year
later the graduates and students section of the Institution of Engineers
Australia, Brisbane Division, included in the annual display of the
Engineering Undergraduate Society a combination of old and new
electrical apparatus.

This display received a deal of interest and early in 1965 the time
seemed opportune to canvass a wide selection of the Queensland
community to ascertain the extent of interest in development of the
technological side of the museum. All relevant learned societies and
similar bodies were included and, at a meeting in April at the University of
Queensland, representatives of these interests agreed to the formation of a
committee which adopted the name 'Queensland Hall of Science, Industry
and Health Development Committee'. A council and an executive
committee of the council were formed — the latter consisting of chairman
S.A. Prentice, senior vice-chairman J.E. O'Hagan, junior vice-chairman
I.O. Marsh, honorary treasurer C.F. Cottis, and acting honorary secretary
L. Wager. The council represented a wide range of technical interests —
agriculture, architecture, education, engineering, health, industry, science,
veterinary science as well as the museum and I he graduate students'
section of the Institution of Engineers Australia, Brisbane Division.

Arnold Sweelser assesses ihe problems
before collecting the Beam Engine from
Lars Anderson's Sawmill at Esk, l%8.

232

A constitution was approved by the Department of Justice in 1966 and
this included the appointment of three trustees to deal with property of
the committee. The object of the committee was to work with the museum
toward the development of a display hall of science, industry and health 33 .
Accommodation for the desired development remained a problem. The
Brisbane City Council's disused power house at New Farm was carefully
studied as a possible solution and in 1970 the council of the Development
Committee prepared a report, entitled 'Suggested Development of the
Queensland Museum', on the intended development of that site. However,
the estimated cost of building modifications to the power house was
considered too great for the matter to be taken any further.

Thus, although displays in the museum resulted from these efforts, a
separate Hall did not. Nevertheless, real development of the museum's
activities in history and technology was initiated by the Queensland Hall
of Science, Industry and Health Development Committee. In addition to
raising public support, and being responsible for the addition of many
important items of early technology to the museum's collections, the
committee realised that the museum did not operate under legislation —
and it saw this as a serious drawback. It produced the first draft of what
was to become The Queesland Museum Act 1970, which made provision
for a board of trustees and defined the museum's charter in the broadest
terms, with responsibilities for history and technology as well as natural
history collections. Prentice, one of the driving forces behind the Hall of
Science, Industry and Health, was an appropriate appointee to the re-
established board of trustees— for it was largely through his efforts that
history and technology was to become a well recognised and well
supported responsibility of the museum, and that the museum itself
acquired a firm statutory base. In 1971 the Hall of Science, Industry
and Health Development Committee became the Museum Society of
Queensland; which, in 1985, became the Queensland Museum Association
Incorporated— thus continuing in the supportive role of its predecessors
(see Chapter 3).

The Final Commitment

Meanwhile, in 1959, the museum had staged its first major display on
the history of the state for the Queensland centenary celebrations. The
display was a great success, and although many of the items had been
loaned (some from Newstead House) it firmly established the museum
as an authority on the state's history and its responsibility to maintain
collections of material relevant to the history of Queensland was now
recognised. From this time on the emphasis changed and acquisition
of large collections of exotic items from China and the Mediterranean,
already well preserved in museums throughout the world, were not
actively sought for the museum's collections. In 1970 the museum was
involved in another historical display for the bicentenary of Captain James
Cook's voyage of discovery up the east coast of Australia. It also prepared
and installed displays in the James Cook Museum in Cooktown for the
National Trust of Queensland.

In 1966 the museum at last made a real commitment to the
development of a history and technology section when it appointed
Squadron Leader H.A. (Arnold) Sweetser, a retired airforce engineer,
to the staff, with responsibility for reorganizing and actively expanding
the collections in these areas. Items were sorted, researched and
reaccessioned in the newly established historical and numismatic registers
and additions to the collection were actively sought and acquired.

Errol Beutel {left), assistant in history
and technology, helping Sweetser to
assemble the restored beam engine in
the museum grounds, 1973.

233

The museum's Garrett traction engine
during its working life with the
Normanby Shire Council at Harrisville in
about 1920.

Vernon recalls that on one occasion Sweetser was contacted by a member
of the public wishing to know about telegraph insulators. The inquirer
made an appointment to visit the museum the following week.
Sweetser, meanwhile, read up all he could find on telegraph line
insulators. Having done that he contacted the post master- general's office
(responsible in those days for telephones) and, with his newly acquired
knowledge, persuaded it to donate a collection of insulators. When the
original inquirer called at the museum he was provided with all the
information he needed.

Publicity for these new activities, together with Sweetser's
enthusiasm and hard work, led to dramatic improvements in certain
displays and new ones, showing glimpses of the state's historical and
technological development, were fitted in wherever space was available in
the galleries. Workshop facilities gradually improved to keep pace with the
restoration and display programme. Eventually, the first curator for the
section, DJ. Robinson, was appointed in 1972.

In 1974 I.G. Sanker was appointed curator of industrial technology
and initiated involvement by the museum in historical and industrial
archaeology in the state. This involves field studies of history and the local
use of technology. The evidence sought are sites and material remains as
well as documentary and pictorial records. Studies have included a convict
building, industrial and mining sites, and a regional study of the industrial
history of the Darling Downs.

The most important item added to the collections during Sweetser's
tenure was an 1866 beam engine. Sweetser realized that a beam engine
represented the most important type of early steam engine and he
believed there was a chance that one might have survived in Queensland.
His inquiries led him to an engineer who had done maintenance work on
such an engine during the 1930s. Following up this lead, Sweetser located
the engine in Lars Anderson's sawmill at Esk. The Anderson family
donated the engine to the museum, and, through the efforts of the
Queensland Hall of Science, Industry and Health Development
Committee, it was collected and restored with the assistance of the
Southern Electric Authority. The technological collection now includes
many other important engines restored in the museum workshop by M.
Schofield who succeeded Sweetser on his retirement in 1974. These items
include a 1925 Republic truck; a 1919 Ransomes, Sims and Jefferies

234

portable steam engine and boiler; a 1910 Tangye oil engine; a 1917
I.H.Mogul kerosene engine; an Ericsson hot air engine; a 1911 Garrett's
6 n.h.p. traction engine; and an Austral oil engine.

One technological area that has benefited from many local donors
is the weapons collection; and the historical accession register records
similar donations in the past. L.H. Maynard, an honorary collector
appointed by Hamlyn-Harris, began the collection in 1912 with a large
donation of 90 weapons. In 1936 E.F. Tristrom gave 45 and over the years
the Marks family have donated more than 64. In addition, interesting
collections of obsolete firearms have been transferred to the museum from
the Comptroller General of Prisons and the CIB have handed on firearms
confiscated and surrendered during amnesties. Perhaps the most diverse
assortment of confiscated weapons, including such things as swordsticks,
has come from the Customs Department.

Through the efforts of E. Wixted, the museum's librarian and a keen
historian of aviation, the museum also acquired many items of aviation

The Garrett traction engine transported
to the museum bv the army, 31 Mav
1979.

1911 Garrett steam traction engine after
full restoration by M. Schofield and
metals workshop staff.

235

history. The most important of these were Bert Hinkler's AVRO Baby and
the wreck of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith's and Captain Bill Lancaster's
Southern Cross Minor, recovered from the Sahara desert by a British
expedition co-ordinated by Wixted (see Chapter 4). Sir Charles Kingsford
Smith memorabilia were donated by his family, now resident in North
America, and, escorted by Director Bartholomai, were flown to Australia
by QANTAS.

The AVRO Baby G-EACQ, like his later AVRO Avian, had been
damaged on landing— this time on a Newcastle beach, and Hinkler left it
behind when he returned to England by ship in 192L The aircraft had
several owners in Australia— the last being a Mr JJ. Smith. In 1969 the
assiduous Wixted eventually found Smith — albeit a not very distinctive
name— through the owners of the Footscray house in which he had lived

Bringaree Indian, a Royal Worcester
porcelain figure of 1888, modelled by
Hadley. From the Ben Ronalds collection,
donated to the museum by Mrs. A.M.
Ronalds in memory of her husband, Ben.

236

in 1930. Smith had the plane stored under a relative's house. Supported by
Bert Hinkler's brother, Jack, Wixted persuaded him to donate the aircraft
to the Queensland Museum. The government airline (TAA) through the
Queensland manager, Ben Cochrane, undertook to transport the plane to
Brisbane but no road haulier would undertake the job. No DC4 aircraft,
which had suitably wide cargo doors, were in commission either. Then one
was brought back into service — with a recertified crew— to provide aerial
delivery of dairy products from Atherton. It was this plane that brought
the AVRO Baby to Queensland on 2 March 1970. It was the only flight that
DC4 made— the aerial dairy delivery never eventuated. The Baby was
displayed by the Royal Flying Doctor Service at Archerfield aerodrome
soon after its arrival in Brisbane. Then, beautifully restored by the Royal
Queensland Aero Club — of which Hinkler had been a member— to
commemorate the 50th anniversary of his 1921 flight, Jim Smith presented
the plane to the museum at a ceremony on 26 May 1972. It is Smith's
monogram that adorns the tail — and it was agreed that it should remain
there, commemorating the 39 years that he had owned the Baby.

Among the many historical items that were acquired during the two
decades from 1970 is the Ben Ronalds collection of over 800 pieces of
ceramics and glassware, including nearly 250 pieces of Royal Worcester
porcelain. This collection was donated by Mrs A.M. Ronalds in memory of
her husband Ben whose hobby it had been over many years.

The history and technology section is now deeply involved with a new
venture for the museum — the setting up of branch museums at various
centres in the state. The first, Woodworks, the Forestry and Timber
Museum, a joint development with the Department of Forestry at the
Gympie Forestry Centre, opened in 1984. It deals specifically with the
history of forestry and the timber industry in Queensland and displays
equipment and technology used in the early days. Proposals for future
branch museums include the Cobb and Co. Museum of Animal Transport,
at Toowoomba, which will provide a home for the extensive collection
donated by the Bolton family; and a Printing Industry Museum in the old
State Government Printing building in William Street, Brisbane. Under the
Queensland Transport and Technology Centre Act 1984 administered by the
premier, a centre was planned to collect and display recent transport,
energy and mining technology at Coomera, south of Brisbane. Later, as a
result of a decision to rationalise museum services, the Act was repealed
as from October 1985 and responsibility for the future of the centre will be
assumed by the museum. Thus, in the long term, the museum is to
develop a specialist branch dealing with technology, at Coomera, on
a site originally selected by another department.

While early policies to build up historical and technological collections
were educational, the increase in the collections over the last 20 years is
probably a result of the recognition of the museum's function to preserve
an archive of artefacts. There is no doubt that community interest in its
own history has also developed in recent years. Thus, by providing study
and display collections on the history of settlement and the technology of
Queensland, the museum can provide a deeper understanding of the past.

The section has an extensive range of responsibilities. For instance,
in 1973 a temporary display on China, using articles from the museum
collection, was followed by a display celebrating the 500th anniversary of
the birth of Copernicus and later, a display of pottery. Public enquiries
about routes and relics of early explorers, coins, ceramics, glass, weapons,
shipwrecks, clocks, industrial machinery, transport, garments, uniforms,

The Ransomes Sims and Jefferies
Portable Steam Engine of 1919
undergoing steam tests at the museum
after restoration, 1978.

D.J. Robinson, curator of history and
technology, in his office in the eastern
end of the storage shed that also housed
a large part of the collection as well as
the metal workshop at the western end.

237

238

fabrics, musical instruments and more— often involving research— are
daily answered. The diversity of objects, both in size and fabric in the
history and technology section's collections — from aircraft to abacus and
ploughshares to lace pillowslips— has always posed problems of storage
and display. From time to time, as the collections have swelled, temporary
relief has been found by using storage space wherever possible— in the
technology workshop and storage building in the museum grounds in the
late 1960s; in the former art gallery section of the main building in 1975; in
the old New Farm power station in 1980; and from 1982 in rented storage
in the West End area 33 .

WoodWurks, a branch of the Queensland
Museum, operated in conjunction with
the Forestry Department at Gympie.

239

That the history and technology section, with its remarkable spread
of collecting interests and commensurate range of artefacts, should
experience problems in preserving its collections in the Queensland
climate and under primitive conditions of housing is self-evident. The
storage of the collections— in a tin shed adjacent to the railway line in
which summer temperatures soared and winter ones plummeted, and in
every nook and cranny of the main museum building from the 'earth
basement' to the galleries above the old concert hall — exacerbated the
problems of saving old and often delicate objects. Accordingly, until the
appointment of a conservator, N.H. Agnew, in 1980, it was the curator of
history and technology who, perforce— to save his collections — had to
develop expertise in conservation and methods of preservation. Indeed,
before 1980, D.J. Robinson extended his offices in conservation to other
sections of the museum, as well as advising the public on matters as
diverse as saving grandmother's christening robe from decay and
constructing a time capsule.

Erie mill engine being removed from
display in 1984, for full restoration, to be
used to drive the steam sawmill under
construction at WoodWorks, Gympie.

Arrival at the museum of the remains of
the Republic truck, donated by Gilltrap's
Auto Museum, Kirra, for use as a source
of spare parts for restoration of the
museum's 1925 model 20 W.C. Republic -
now on display as a working exhibit at
WoodWorks, Gympie.

240

■,.: '

The branch museum to be opened in
Toowoomba will celebrate the era before
railways when animal transport provided
the sole means of communication.

Cobb and Co. coach lent to the museum
for the centenary of Queensland
exhibition 1959, by W.R.F. Bolton of
Toowoomba. The coach is part of the
collection given to the museum by the
Bolton family and will be exhibited in the
Animal Transport Branch of the museum
in Toowoomba,

When it was decided that the museum would become part of
the Cultural Centre on the South Bank of the Brisbane River it was
acknowledged that this site would not be the permanent home of
technology nor, for that matter, of the growing maritime archaeological
collections. The move to the new museum building in the Queensland
Cultural Centre in 1986 is thus only one more step in the story of the
state's technology collections.

241

PANDORA'S
BOX

Maritime
Archaeology

Previous page: Divers descending the 34
metres to the Pandora site.

Ships brought the colonists and the precious personal
belongings and supplies that they needed to start their lives
anew in Australia. Later, it was through the use of ships that
the earliest industries developed — whaling, sealing, pearling,
guano mining. Ships were, and still are, the vehicles
for trade with other countries; and, until aeroplanes became the
principal means of travelling between and across continents, ships were
the only line of communication between Australia and the rest of the
world. Cultural and political links with Europe were maintained only
through the ships that carried the mail, the government despatches, the
goods, and the immigrants with their knowledge, skills, beliefs, traditions
and customs as well as their household goods, machines and books. It is
through ships that the Australia of today was born and developed— a fact
sometimes overlooked when histories of Australia have focussed on the
daring and tragedy of inland exploration.

A shipwreck preserves a record, occasionally almost intact, of a
moment in time. Shipwrecks are the result of a catastrophe in which there
was little or no time to remove any of the objects; nor have those objects
since been subjected to the weathering of rain and sun. A shipwreck
contains the evidence of the history and of the lives of the shipboard
community of people who may have made a long voyage together. Only the
flesh and blood of those who had begun the voyage is lacking. Shipwrecks
are the physical remains of our maritime heritage.

Maritime archaeology, as a scientific discipline, was first developed in
Australia at the Western Australian Museum. It came about as a result of
the discovery, in the late 1950s, of the wrecks of 17th and 18th century
Dutch East Indiamen on Australia's west coast. For nearly two decades
the Western Australian Museum had the only recognised underwater
archaeology unit in the country. Through its excellent and innovative work
on the Dutch wrecks it firmly established Australia on the world scene in
this developing scientific field. It was as a result of these efforts that
recognition of the significance of Australia's rich underwater cultural
resources became widespread and culminated in the federal government's
enactment of the Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976. This legislation, designed to
protect and preserve historic shipwreck sites, is framed in such a way that
the implementation of the legislation to each individual state's territorial
waters is only at that state government's request.

Although the Aboriginal people of Australia had canoes and rafts in
which they could reach the islands off the coast, they were not a sea-going
people. The first ships that sailed in Queensland waters were probably
those of fishermen from Macassar and Chinese explorers who had found
their way down the eastern Australian coast 1 . In the 16th century, when
Europeans developed the spice trade with the East Indies, there may have
been ships that sailed on from the Portuguese colony in Timor. There is
some cartographic evidence of a few of these early voyages and there may
have been shipwrecks 1 — but no material remains have thus far been
discovered.

Through the 17th century, Dutch spice traders, sailing due east from
the Cape of Good Hope with the westerly trade winds — so called because
they carried them to the islands of the East Indies and their spices— were
being wrecked on the coast of Western Australia. Sufficiently accurate
chronometers were not available and without them longitude could not be
well determined and mariners did not know when to turn to the north.
However, no such winds blew toward the eastern coast of this island

244

continent and the Spanish vessels, crossing the Pacific to the Philippines,
passed to the north of Australia. Perhaps, also, there were earlier mariners
who, like the French explorer, the Chevalier de Bougainville, were
discouraged from venturing into these waters. In 1768 he was sailing west
from Tahiti and turned away when he saw—

an endless line of shoals and rocks on which the sea thundered with
great violence. This last discovery was the voice of God and we were
obedient to it 2 .

The only known shipwrecks on the eastern Australian coast are those
that happened after 1770 when Captain James Cook sailed northwards
inside that 'endless line of shoals'. Indeed, his ship the Endeavour, was
nearly lost on the reef that now bears its name 2 . Endeavour Reef is only
one of about 2000 in the Great Barrier Reef —a barrier of extreme hazard
to navigators, and even today not thoroughly charted in some areas away
from regular shipping routes.

Navigation in eastern Australian waters increased in 1788 with the
first settlement, Port Jackson. It increased again after 1839 when the
Moreton Bay settlement became a free town and when port facilities
developed in provincial towns, such as Gladstone, Rockhampton,
Townsville and Cooktown, to serve the growing populations and industries
such as agriculture, grazing, timber and gold mining and a developing
trade with countries to the north. Matthew Flinders and other Royal Navy
surveyors worked off the north-eastern Australian coast and in the Great
Barrier Reef area in the last decade of the 18th century and the first half

Divers working on the Pandora site
(photograph Pat Baker).

245

of the 19th century. However, the hydrographic data gathered were very
incomplete. Inadequate charts and the coral reefs with strong tidal
currents resulted in the many shipwrecks that occurred and still do occur
in these waters. Indeed, every year sees the addition to the long list of
vessels — now more than 2000— that have come to grief off the
Queensland coast.

It was the mutiny on the vessel HMS Bounty under Lieutenant
William Bligh which, in due course, led to one of Australia's most
historically important shipwrecks in Queensland waters— resulting, nearly
200 years later, in the involvement of the Queensland Museum in
maritime archaeology. On 29 August 1791 HMS Pandora, a 24-gun frigate
built in 1779, was wrecked on a small reef at the northern end of the Great
Barrier Reef at the eastern entrance to Torres Strait. Sailing under the
command of Captain Edward Edwards — an inhuman martinet— Pan dora
was returning 14 of the Bounty mutineers to England for trial. The
mutineers had been captured in Tahiti where they had remained while
their erstwhile collaborators sailed on in the Bounty. On their capture the
prisoners were locked into an 11 x 18 foot (3.4 x 5.2 metres) box not more
than 175 metres high on the deck of the Pandora where, starving and
vermin infested, their hands and legs in irons, they sweltered for five
months while Edwards unsuccessfully searched the tropical Pacific for the
other mutineers, who were now safe on Pitcairn Island. When the Pandora
struck, Edwards had been trying to find a way through the reef. In
desperate straits he let three of the prisoners out of their box to help with
the pumping. The other 11 remained imprisoned until, a moment before
the ship sank, seven saved themselves when the master-at-arms threw
them the keys of the irons, and a brave boatswains mate opened the hatch
through which they escaped 3 .

In November 1977 the wreck of what was believed to be HMS
Pandora was discovered. The Commonwealth and Queensland
governments shortly afterwards declared the Historic Shipwrecks Act to
apply to Queensland and gazetted the wrecksite as protected against
disturbance or vandalism. In April 1979 the federal government

Divers working with the water dredge
under the survey grid near the stern of
the Pandora site (photograph Pat Baker).

<* ^

246

commissioned two maritime archaeologists from the Western Australian
Museum, G. Henderson and P. Baker, to examine the site to confirm its
identity and to evaluate its archaeological significance. The results were
conclusive. The wreck was, indeed, that of Pandora and the archaeological
potential, because of conditions on the site which appeared to be likely to
favour preservation of much material, was enormous. Unlike many ships
wrecked on coral reefs, the Pandora did not break up before she sank, and
she settled onto coral sand in deep waters— 34 metres— out of the reach
of breaking surf that would have pounded and scattered her remains.
Objects that were on the ship at the time she sank are likely to be in place,
contained within the apparently almost entire hull, protected by the
sediments that have been settling over the site for nearly 200 years. These
sediments have excluded the oxygenated water that would have hastened
the deterioration of many of the artefacts. Further, she was an up-to-date
naval vessel, and historical information gained from the study of the
equipment on board was thought likely to be significant.

The Queensland Museum Board of Trustees, as early as 1972, noting
the successful work being done in Western Australia, had given serious
consideration to the future entry of the museum into the field of maritime
archaeology. The discovery of Pandora and the declaration of the federal
historic shipwrecks legislation to apply in Queensland waters brought the
museum closer to a commitment to the establishment and development of
a maritime archaeology section. There was also a pending application to
have gazetted another Queensland wreck — that of SS Yongala, which in
1911 had disappeared without trace off Townsville.

On 1 August 1980, under the terms of the Act, the premier nominated
the museum as the competent authority to administer the legislation in
Queensland and the director of the museum as the Queensland delegate
to the federal minister of Home Affairs — now Arts, Heritage and
Environment. The museum was now fully committed to a responsibility
for maritime archaeology, a responsibility officially assumed in January
198L In June of the same year Ronald Coleman was appointed maritime
archaeologist, becoming curator in 1982. He had had many years
involvement with investigations on shipwrecks in other parts of the world
and, while employed as the display designer on the museum staff, had
done the preliminary work associated with the establishment of maritime
archaeology in the institution.

Among Coleman's first activities, was a preliminary inspection and
photographic survey of the Yongala, which had been declared a protected
site on 5 June 198L In this survey he was associated with film-makers Ron
and Valerie Taylor who were producing a documentary television film on
the Yongala wreck. Work on a register of the shipwrecks off the
Queensland coast also began and by May 1982, after archival research,
the list of some 2000 wrecks had been compiled.

The next problem to be tackled was that of personnel. Work on
submerged wrecks requires teams of people— many more than could
ever be maintained on the permanent staff of the museum. A source of
man-power and skills presented itself in the growing number of amateurs
in the field. Thus, in July 1982, Coleman formed the Maritime
Archaeological Association of Queensland Inc. to bring these amateurs
together. This association gives members an opportunity to participate in
the museum's work and, at the same time, to gain practical experience in
the field. It also provides the experienced volunteer staff that the museum
regularly needs to pursue its maritime archaeological programme. It

The Pandora in Matavai Bay, Tahiti
(painting by courtesy of the National
Geographic).

247

enables the museum to conduct training courses and provides the back-up
organisation that contributes to the co-ordination of field parties. The
membership of the association quickly grew to more than 100, and, with
the experience gained as a result of participation in museum programmes,
the association is now able to initiate some of its own. In addition to the
assistance in the field provided by this association, the employment of staff
on National Estate grants helped to alleviate the serious shortage of
professionals.

Now, with strong back-up personnel it was possible to undertake a
variety of field projects. In December 1982 a site inspection of a wreck that
had been found 75 nautical miles northeast of Townsville was conducted.
The wreck was subsequently identified as the Foam, a 'blackbirder'
wrecked in 1893 while en route to the Solomon Islands with Kanakas being
returned from the Queensland sugar-cane fields. The wreck was
particularly interesting because of the quantity and variety of trade goods
it contained. The study and description of the trade goods was of interest
to anthropologists and ethno-archaeologists studying the influence of
European penetration on the indigenous peoples. Both the Foam and the

Preparing to lift recovered artefacts to
the surface from the Pandora site
(photograph Pat Baker).

248

Some of the artefacts recovered from (he
fiandom silt.

Yongala were inspected again at later dates to monitor their condition and
ensure that the sites were not being vandalised.

Another project was the investigation of a mysterious wreck site at
Happy Bay on Long Island in the Whitsunday Group. The wreck had been
romanticised as a Spanish galleon— yet another one of several such fabled
wrecksites reputed to exist around the Australian coast— because it's
timbers were thought to be mahogany. The wrecksite was investigated and
recorded and the remains were shown to be those of the Valetta dating
from 1825. The ship had been built in Calcutta in 1821 and the main
structural timbers were, not surprisingly for an Indian-built vessel, teak
and not mahogany. Early in 1985 the maritime archaeology section
conducted surveys off Lady Elliot Island to identify shipwreck sites and
remains in that part of the Capricornia section of the Marine Park at the
southern end of the Great Barrier Reef.

Meanwhile, in late October 1983, by now with some experience of
working in Great Barrier Reef waters, with confidence in the capacity
of the team and with support and encouragement from maritime
archaeologists and historians both in Australia and overseas, the first
expedition to HMS Pandora was organised. The excavation of the Pandora
is possibly the most ambitious project in maritime archaeology ever
undertaken in Australia in terms of difficulty of access, depth of the
wrecksite, and the number of artefacts that probably will be recovered and
that will require extensive and sophisticated conservation treatment. A
team of 20 professional underwater archaeologists gathered from around
Australia and overseas. The museum conservator joined the party to
supervise treatment of the excavated material. The wreck lies 100
kilometres off the mainland coast in a remote area east of Cape York. The
team of SCUBA 4 divers and support personnel had to be maintained on-
site over a period of eight weeks and the logistics were complex. The
diving programme was strictly supervised to ensure the divers' safety at
34 metres— and this, of course, restricted the time that each person could
work on the site. The weather was a critical but uncontrollable factor.
October was chosen as a time before the cyclone season when the
prevailing south-easterly winds would not be a problem. However this
choice was not altogether vindicated and fine weather did not persist

249

throughout the eight weeks. Nevertheless, the site was surveyed, mapped,
transects were laid down and, in a preliminary excavation, the remains of
the doctors shipboard surgery were found with unguents and medicines
still stoppered and in place in their jars. The expedition was documented
by David Flatman Productions in the film 'HMS Pandora: In Pursuit of the
Bounty', subsequently televised nationally in Australia and sold overseas.
The second Pandora season in November 1984 was equally successful 4 . A
larger expedition is planned for October 198ft

Maritime archaeology is costly. It involves large teams in the field for
long periods, ship charter, tenders, computer data compilation, acquisition
and use of survey equipment, conservation facilities for immediate
treatment of materials recovered, and the complex logistical organisation
necessary to move personnel, equipment and supplies; as well as
provisions to deal with contingencies such as bad weather, loss of
equipment and injuries to team members. The more remote the site from
land and the deeper the wreck the more expensive an expedition becomes-
The Pandora site ranks high on both counts. The financial resources
required are of the order thai generally would be beyond those of a state
museum. Federal government funding through the Department of Arts,
Heritage and the Environment complemented a state subsidy for the
Pandora and other projects and to some extent this alleviated the
problem. However, contributions from private persons and commercial
organisations have been generous and without them the programme could
not have proceeded at the level maintained since it began in 1981 Captain
Philip Gibson, a consultant appointed by the board of trustees, advises on
aspects of the Pandora project to ensure that the funds received are used
in the best possible way.

Donations from the corporate sector in excess of $10,000 came from
Arcom Pacific Pty Ltd and Entercomp Pty Ltd for computer software and
hardware; NEC Information Systems supplied, maintained and updated
computer hardware; Grace Brothers transported equipment to and from
points of departure and gave additional funding. The Inflatable Boat
Centre supplied a number of Zodiac inflatable boats for work on-site and
site access; Bendcez Pty Ltd contributed the all-important complex
oxygen safety systems for the divers; David Flatman Productions supplied
funds and, in filming the operations at the Pandora site, made it possible
for the world to share in these excitements, as did the National
Geographic Society which, in addition to a generous cash donation,
published a richly illustrated account, of the Pandora saga. The
Queensland-based brewer, Castlemaine Tooheys, commissioned the
construction of a valuable model of the vessel and, by provisioning the first
expedition with a generous supply of its product, averted a serious
freshwater shortage when the desalinator on the work vessel broke down.
A large cash donation came from John Walker and Sons Ltd, and Flamingo
Bay Charters provided services including the use of the vessel, Flamingo
Bay. These contributions together with many
more from individuals and other
commercial firms have made
it possible for the
programme to

250

proceed effectively and for those taking part to have confidence in the
equipment that ensures their safety".

Not the least part of the cost of establishing a maritime archaeological
section is that associated with the provision of conservation staff, facilities
and equipment to preserve, for study and future display, the myriad
artefacts of many materials — bone, leather, wood, metal and even textiles
and paper — that can be raised from a wrecksite. Some objects recovered
are huge, such as cannon; while others, such as needles or tiny glass trade
beads, are minute. On being raised, all require conservation treatment to
prevent accelerated deterioration owing to the combined effects of salt and
exposure to fresh air, Treatment of a cannon may need upwards of a year
to stabilise it against further corrosion. In 1980 the museum had
established a conservation section to start to address the long neglected
problem of deterioration in the collections— notably the anthropological
collections. However, the conservation section inevitably became deeply
involved in the preservation of objects, particularly Pandora artefacts,
presented to it by the maritime archaeologist.

Meanwhile, linking the new maritime archaeology section with the
long history of the museum, the section considered one of the earliest
maritime artefacts acquired by the museum. In the board of trustees
minutes of 3 June 1906 there appears the following report;

a small bronze cannon which had been purchased was found on a

northern reef by the black, supposed to belong to a wrecked Spanish
vessel.

It came to the museum from the Office of the Chief Protector of
Aboriginals and the purchase price was £2.0.0 It was picked up on the
northern point of Ashmore Reef in Torres Strait and the natives who
found it said there w r ere two other larger cannon near it, as well as the
large timbers of a vessel' 6 .

Now, some 80 years later, it has been established that this early
acquisition to the museum's collection of maritime artefacts is of French
origin, one of a type manufactured in the early 19th century. It was made
specifically for the French navy for shipboard use and it would have been
effective against hostile natives in dugout canoes— it was light, easily used
and portable and would fire rounds of grape shot with enough force to
penetrate skin and bone.

When the mystery of how it got to Ashmore Reef is solved, one more
piece of the history of navigation and exploration in Australian waters will
be known.

To a maritime archaeologist it is not surprising that others should
find shipwrecks fascinating. Much of history is mysterious and history
preserved in the seas is particularly so. In the museum the maritime
archaeology section will continue its exploration of these mysteries. From
the study of the sites and the objects recovered from the sea, it will add to
the knowledge and understanding of the events and the people that have
made Australia

Flint-lock Espingole— model ANIX.
Made in Ruelle, France, in Lhe first hal!
of the 19th century, tor the French Navy.
In 1906 it was purchased for £2 by the
museum, from Torres Strait Islanders
who had recovered it from Ashmore
Reef.

251

- 1 1 1 1 1*1 II

«. — _.: _ iL. _. A

I f I I ¥ PP

ft? frnfffW tff fm 1 *

ftp* ••*«•• fc •*»»»«*•* teg m

ttMHH^B

IB 1

^ -

■ »

?"! i

iittiitti itt I i t t i i i i l • l ■

1 1 1 f t f i 1 1 i t - i i i t I i J

■11

"tw >pn aa ^» ™ ■

"" :

IB'.. . 1 -' ■:$

THE NEED
FOR

SCIENTIFIC
WORKS

The Library

It was the need for reference books as working tools that
resulted in the creation of the museum library. At the age of 40,
Karl Theodor Staiger, the newly appointed custodian of the
fledgling museum, was faced with the prospect of identifying a
variety of natural history items without the staff or research
resources necessary for such a task. In a letter dated 2 June 1873
addressed to the Minister for Mines, Staiger observed that —

all the scientific books in my office are my own property, but as they
deal with specimens of natural history found principally in Europe
they are of not much use to me here; it will be therefore highly
desirable to take early steps to procure the necessary scientific
works that classifications of any specimen of natural history can be
done K

In a further letter on 2 August 1873 he reinforced his remarks:

jfeaw/afoiweipi TeufeiiBck.

IW.-tii

F**»«*.j ; -

:| <«•««»«

H i

■**{«**

■-■ Mitum*******

*T K

; "

«M

■Mbat

lot

»8*

I B

■

Donntntig, !«. September.

>]>•;' im

j 1 "» au'fi

|i'" M

ia*a

(«*■:,•;,

eaia-*lr»i.,

Mki|

a,;ii t is

•(•■•*>■«

-■;■

l*t'*S,

>;(*-MJ

«-y.«i.-fi

•r,

(•St

JH ■ CHI

■

-■

ftth

»n-i nili.k

S'->'Wl>

>■

t|i ■ n-S 1 i

mm t

nimt*.

irS

a«

19*** l»-7

■

-■

Ri«j

.' i 1 it" ■ *

V-

W VVl .

• itoi-Mr«".

21 7;3<V*

;.i

WSW.

w f nt'K,

ii.!

ii-ft'.ao-B

«*

^■

^«,

■

■» i tm is {•.

S3 »-h> ;

.„.

■.,.-

s\v>

aasai-4

■■-

\\«

a'liai:

a- it

1 jV ISM t'l .
1 >t| »M» '. 3 0. 4

3a«-*w

as-s.stj-i'

S3 ■ *

!s\«;

s»'-it

■

53* «<V

• i a.sifft

*■ -t»

»RW,

. ' '->i'T;iO'*

-..

^i ...

l ■«■"!(

\sw.

*t-al.

|« M

-..

•.■<■

"ihl tire

>'!HC-Mr*t

ITS

il I'.l

|-».«-4

11*41

at-

*»

«>vi lilnit).

ii** K,

-..'

;

let :m u «

i»*ti

■ii

84-4

„

Wti ll-l

-I-..

W«>

ll'*!«4'4

i"i»

ti I

mmfH

itgtA.

TBI

jji ,, hi |

»-ne

.■<:

:■_' 1

772-

B*M

n •

. . ■ . ■ ■ i ■ ■ ■ . ■ .i

-r.
ii

■

>..

1 It'll*

■■

SI -far. .■ -■■

L .,'l. -'.,,- Id ■■ l«A ■ »■(:- tSMWtOfna. ■ \, u . ■!• M iMIell. .S..«'Hni-.<-i>*in HmM VWUM

.S.«t!..r, -i.fctW

''*'''■' " ""

«g. 1

Fret*

7. Siptember,

MM8»

swijiva

■

12'»

?,«■...,

HJX&.

;.,

H»lit|r

;

.<;.

.., :. -. ■

. | >.-■;

■;■- 1

*.Wj.i

■ ■ , 1

m s

§***,

a-fff.

t«T

21* .1 Itf 3

-7

-,w.

„

«r«l»-«

-i

B»-« i 'Otn

tt*S

rirt'*lnli.

■

«.. -..in ;

■ ■

6«7

HI-HV-

■■:

iritMtt.

,h;.*j

21 :. i»*i

« f %,

rtJI

(1 ; lt-«

-■.

w ,

t» f 6*ia N

«.■.*

aa.j'm .

■j ■ 1 ■

IV . \,

1 1 W

;,«*

±i-:.i",

ii.--;

-■'

»!

« t \.

:.u

ii ;

IViT '.-(.■>

S3-i.an -JiM-a

■-.■.

MB,, Amb

;

'.,!., K(i«!

-2 - »ii-jd y-7

■;<

s;i-s : ,

w*.,

■■ ■

•in

tt V.

riri.«r«t.

■ 1

:■

BS-9I-H9K

W»-f

,, 1.1 ■ (,-„>"

i ■: 1 i r ■ ■ ■ -

,Wmi

... , .,„. .,.,.

ft:

*■

■'

J! ■ 1 J ■ t»tf 1

tt,

n.fuiM-mrj!

21 ' i --•«.■.! I..-.".

Oil

it ■-:-..--,.!.. « •; l|

»•*»>■« te --.-

*s,

rxa

.. m Sub

».

*•_•■ ii... ..[H.-a-.k

RS-J

Jwfst |7. Miltf! .

m;'-4Wi at-wwi) w a

!■*

, ajj

S. |»S« w ,.

Mrlitwr Sn: «i,,i t**>4i - k ..4.

i tir^E.

ti'lf Mb Rt^bern Se^ M*

Previous page: The museum library, 1933.
Longman and Nora Holdsworth, librarian
(on right) (photograph from the Brisbane
Courier 24 May 1933).

254

I beg also to mention that there is an utter want of proper books for
the Museum. Many Zoological specimens and fossils can not be
properly named and classified without the aid of such. I sincerely
hope you will take this matter in to your consideration 2 .

Staiger's working office at this time was the old Post Office building in
Queen Street and even if the minister had responded to his request there
would have been little space to house more than a very small library. Even
six years later, in 1879, Bailey, the keeper of the herbarium — a
department of the museum from 1874 —reported that he did most of his
work at his private residence —

there being no room at my disposal at the present museum and all
the requisite books of references, being my own library*.

Apparently in 1873 parliament had approved £50 for a botanical
library although it was never spent.

For three years from liJ57 the Austrian
frigate Novara, sailed on a voyage of
discovery across the Atlantic, Indian and
Pacific Oceans. The reports of that
voyage, contained in the 16 volume Reise
de Novara, were donated by the Imperial
Academy of Science, Vienna. This was
the first substantial international work
acquired by the museum library. Here
reproduced is the meteorological data for
part of its passage and the chart of the
vessel's course in the western Pacific.

'"9 r'M

«/**.*# r»r

255

The Formative Period, 1876-1881

Charles Coxen, the honorary curator of the museum also had his
own small library that he probably used to help him work on his own
collections as well as those he had given to the museum. Soon after his
death in 1876, the board of trustees, appointed earlier that year, received
an offer from his widow to dispose of his collection to the museum and
this offer was recorded in the minutes of the board meeting of 20 June
1876. It was some time before all the negotiations were Finalised, payment
not being authorised until 24 January 1877. The acquisition of the Coxen
collection of books can be said to be the beginning of the museum library.

On the same date that payment was authorised to Mrs Coxen the
board decided that quotes should be obtained for an insurance policy
'for Museum collection and books'— an independent confirmation of the
existence of an embryonic library. The board's interest was further
demonstrated when, at its meeting on 20 June 1877, one year after
receiving the offer of the Coxen collection, it authorised payment of the
sum of £4.10.6d to Otto Hagen, a bookbinder who conducted a business
in nearby Roma Street. Unfortunately no record exists of what Hagen's
account covered but the sum expended suggests that more than twenty
volumes had been bound, unless the publications were of an extra large
size. One of the important publications that was acquired with Coxen's
library and specifically mentioned in the annual report for 1876 was Mr
Gould's Australian Birds*. Another important acquisition took place in the
latter half of 1877. Silvester Diggles, a leader on the Brisbane scene in
both music and the natural sciences, offered his 21-part Ornithology of
Australia to the trustees for £20, and the offer was accepted immediately 5 .
The board had had some dealings with Diggles earlier in 1877, paying him
an amount of £12.19.6, but it is not known if the items supplied on that
occasion included books''. To the end of 1877 the sources of library supply
appear to have been valuable second-hand publications previously owned
by leading citizens, or local work such as that by Diggles.

January 1878 marked a new phase in the development of the library
when the board received an offer of the 16-volumes of the Novara
Expedition 7 . The Novara was a frigate which carried out a voyage in the

« tll_.it*, l[ , , .

256

years 1857-1859 collecting natural history specimens, and the publications,
which were offered through the agent-general in London by the Imperial
Academy of Science in Vienna, were the scientific reports on the material
collected. Reise der Novara was the first substantial international work
offered to the museum library. Administrative arrangements for the
forwarding and deliver)' of international donations were of such a nature
that it was to be August 1879 before these volumes were obtained from
the colonial secretary's office in Brisbane 14 .

Staiger was fully occupied as an analytical chemist and the function of
custodian was an additional duty. There was little work involved in the
administration of the small library collection and from 1878 it was probably
done by the temporary clerk Charles Chester. The history of the museum
library is, in part, the history of those who controlled the institution and
of their attitudes, for it was to be 25 years before a member of staff was
officially designated librarian. The documents of the period give a clear

indication that the board of trustees saw the importance of developing
adequate library resources. Explaining its estimates for 1878-9, the board's
view was that provision had been made 'for moderate additions to the
scientific literature of the Museum library, a feature the importance of
which cannot be ignored' 9 . In this short reference there is also the
recognition that a library with its own identity existed within the museum.

Modest indeed was the sum spent on the library during the financial
year 1878-1879 for the amount outlaid was £8.16.0 w . The previous year
£47.116 had been spent on the library in an 11-month period, so there had
been a considerable drop, probably reflecting a lack of awareness as to
suitable sources of supply of appropriate publications' 1 . There were a few
donations, so the library was growing. However, without expertise in
relevant areas and without adequate reference works, specimens usually
had to be referred to outside specialists for identification K \

In 1880 the museum was installed in its new building in William ,
Street. It had basement, ground floor and upper floor with a mezzanine
gallery. On 2 April 1879 the board of trustees inspected the structure and
held a scheduled meeting there. They advised the architect that a 'room
under the first floor would do for a board room and that space need not be

Gould'S Bird:, ul Australia was one <>i the
lit St sets of volumes acquired by the
museum. It was pari of Coxen's library
which, with his collections of shells and
birds, the museum trustees purchased
for Ihe sum of £239.2.0 from his widow,
Elizabeth. It is now probably the most
valuable set or volumes in the museum
library— the plates being oblta
items. Here reproduced are two of the
plates from Gould's great work. OppOSiit
page: Chlamdydera nuclwlis—ihn Great
Bower Bird; tkii page: CMamdydera
maculata— the Spotted Bower Bird.

257

mid

Leatherjackets, plate 227 from volume 5
of the Atlas Ichthyotogique des Indes
Orientates Neerlandaises by Peter
Bleeker, published by the Netherlands
Colonial Government, Amsterdam, 1876-
77.

screened off the main floors'. In later years the room where the board held
its meetings was identified as the library in the basement 12 .

William A. Haswell, the new curator, brought with him invaluable
knowledge of how things were done elsewhere. It was to institutions and
learned societies in Britain that the museum would have to look for
reference works suitable to its purposes. Haswell's stay in Brisbane was
fruitful in respect of the library. That he was active immediately is evident
from a letter from Williams & Norgate, booksellers of Covent Garden and,
later, Oxford. Dated 28 May 1880, and addressed to Haswell, it reports that
all the publications required had been obtained 'with 2 exceptions' 13 . The
annual report of the board for the year 1879-1880 contained the following:

The necessity for the efficient working of a Museum of a library
containing at least a fair assortment of standard works in the various
departments of science, has induced the Trustees to sanction a larger
expenditure than usual on the library, so that at least a nucleus has
been formed round which, in future years, by donation and purchase,
it is hoped a useful scientific library will be formed. With this end in
view, orders have been given to Messrs. Williams and Norgate,
London, for a few standard works, including the Zoological Record,
Gould's Mammals of Australia, Owen's Fossil Mammals of Australia,
Carus and Engelmann's Bibliotheca Zoologica, etc. etc., which are
expected to arrive very shortly. From the Trustees of the British
Museum a very valuable addition has been made to this department
in the form of a set of the British Museum Catalogues in 164
volumes. A series of statistical works have been presented to the
Museum by the Department of Public Instruction, Paris, as an
overture in the direction of exchanges to be carried on with the
French Museums; and the Peabody Institute of Cambridge,
Massachusetts, has presented a series of the valuable scientific
reports issued annually by that institution 14 .

The catalogues from the British Museum were not the result of action
taken by Haswell but had resulted from a board initiative. In 1856 a library
open to the public on a subscription basis had been opened in Brisbane.
This was the School of Arts library in Ann Street. In its collections there
was The Catalogue of the Fishes in the British Museum and this was made
available on loan to Staiger at the museum. Early in 1879 the School of
Arts required the Catalogue to be returned, and on complying the
museum board wrote to the British Museum asking for a copy for its own
use 15 . Almost immediately it realised that the British Museum might be
happy to supply its full range of catalogues and the board decided to ask
on 19 February 1879. Publications of this type are exceptionally useful
working tools and the British Museum Catalogues were invaluable for
many years.

Zoological Record, ordered by Haswell, was and still is a fundamental
research tool in the natural sciences. The Zoological Society of London
began this publication in 1864. In annual issues it indexes the world-wide
literature on zoological subjects. Divided into classified sections, with
author and subject lists, Zoological Record permits a researcher to
establish and identify literature published on any particular topic.
Naturally, it cannot provide the literature itself and eventually other tools
were evolved that would. Haswell's action ensured that the museum
library was equipped with a complete set of Zoological Record from 1864
onwards.

The publications from Paris had a somewhat different significance. On
4 December 1879 the board of trustees received a communication from the
Service des Echanges Internationaux, Ministere de Tlnstruction Publique
des Beaux Arts, Paris. It offered an exchange of publications issued in

258

France for material published by the museum. The system of exchanging
publications was later to be a valuable source of acquisitions by the
museum library but in 1879 the Paris overture was a little premature
for the museum had nothing to exchange.

Generally in Queensland at this time libraries were in their infancy.
The parliamentary library was well established and for that reason tended
to receive reference works that would have been better suited to other
libraries, had such special libraries existed. On 7 September 1880, the
librarian of the parliament advised that he had been empowered by his
library committee to pass a selected publication to the museum 16 . While
functions and collecting policies of such libraries as existed remained
undefined this type of interchange and co-operation would be essential. It
was to continue for many years and important accessions to the museum
library resulted. On 25 September 1880 board approval was given to the

. j .-. „- -,:..- ; ^.- ■ ' is y - / ' /

Reef Cod, plate 283 from volume 6 of the
Atlas Ichthyologique. Peter Bleeker was a
surgeon of the Dutch East Indian army.
During his service in Batavia, 1842-60,
he wrote 432 articles on the fish fauna of
the Indo- Australian archipelago.
However, the Atlas was his chief work.
As well as providing descriptions of a
comprehensive range of species from the
region, many were illustrated for the first
time in the nine volumes of the Atlas,
which were purchased by the
Queensland Museum in 1884 — one of
the few original sets in Australia to this
day. As in so many zoological works of
this period, the plates are
chromolithographs, each individually
hand painted.

259

Queensland Philosophical Society to store its books on museum premises
and no doubt this expanded the library resources then available to the
museum staff.

After Haswell vacated the curatorship towards the end of 1880 to
accept a higher paid appointment in Sydney, and had been replaced
temporarily by F.M. Bailey, the library collection continued to grow. On 18
May 1881, in the minutes of the board meeting, there is the first mention
of any person being given a specific library responsibility. There were
some unusual features:

It was also agreed that Mrs Fenwick purchase a stamp suitable for
stamping the books of the Library. Also that a list of the books be
prepared. Also if duplicates were in the Museum two native catskins
were to be given to Mrs Fenwick.

It would seem that the catskins were to be Mrs Fenwick's reward for
the labour involved. John Fenwick was a member of the board of trustees.

At first much of the basement portion of the William Street museum
building had been almost useless and the board of trustees, in its annual
report for 1879-1880, drew attention to the fact that this area could 'by
but a very moderate expenditure' be used for preserving and storing of
specimens and materials 14 . Such use would, of course, have a direct impact
on the library environment. Towards the end of 1881 the improvements
were effected to the basement 17 . The carpenter on the staff was also
authorised to prepare shelving in the basement though this was not
necessarily for the use of the library 1 *.

This was the state of affairs on 24 January 1882 when the board
selected Charles Walter de Vis for appointment to the vacant curatorship
of the institution. Initially appointed for six months, he was a major
influence on the development of the museum. It is also with the
appointment of de Vis that the second significant period of library
development began.

A Period of Consolidation, 1882-1890

The year 1882 saw the issue of two annual reports by the board, the
first relating to the financial year 1881-1882 and the second to the calendar
year 1882. These reports assist in tracing the development of the library.
In the first it was said:

During the last year the extensive botanical library, previously kept
in the Curator's cottage at the Botanic Gardens, has been transferred
to the large room in the basement floor of the museum building,
where Mr Bailey now works as government botanist. In this room
are also contained the few works of reference belonging to the
museum and the varied library of the Philosophical Society 19 .

At this time, in addition to the library where the botanist also worked,
there was a laboratory used by de Vis for examining and classifying
specimens and there was working space for the taxidermist and museum
carpenter 19 . Just before June 1882 the additional working areas were laid
with asphalt and lighted with additional windows 19 . Until October 1882
natural light provided the only form of lighting anywhere in the museum
building. In that month a gas connection was made to the basement 20 .
Internal stairs provided access to the basement from the ground floor.
These were closed off with a small gate at the head of the steps when it
was found that members of the public were mistakenly descending the
stairs in search of further exhibits 21 .

The main source of material for the library in 1882 appears to have
been donations. There was one that was remarkable, the first of its kind. It

260

came from an anonymous source and was a £10 cash donation for the
purchase of books :

The annual report for 1882 showed the enthusiasm of the board far
the library to be undiminished:

The very scanty resources of the museum library, when brought
under the notice of the late minister, received from him the
consideration which was desired, and the works of reference most
immediately required for research were at once ordered. The board
respectfully recommend that this, the only collection of scientific
literature freely open to the student, should be rendered as complete
as possible in every department of inquirj

The importance ol the museum library to the community is thus
recorded. Its only competitors in Brisbane were the schools of arts'
libraries which were not free but available only on payment of a
subscription. No such thing as a free public library existed in Queensland
at that time.

The attitude of the minister responsible for the museum was also an
important factor in determining the course and rate of development of the
museum library. In 1882 the requests of the board did not fall on deaf ears.
This is evident in the comments of the trustees in the annual report for
1883:

In attaining that measure of success we have been chiefly aided by
the liberality with which our requirements have been met by the
Government. We refer more especially to an ample grant of th«_
furniture needful for the display of specimens, and for that increase
of our small library which is now providing partially for the
necessities of research. The importance we attach to the formation of
an efficient collection of books oj reference will, we hope, excuse us
in cherishing the expectation that the favour we have obtained in
this work will he still further extended.

By the help of the library — imperfect as it yet is— and by that of our
collections, our officers have been enabled to supply the
nomenclature of, and other information respecting, natural objects to
many inquirers "

This happy conjunction of a board and a minister, who both
recognised that an adequate library was not a luxury but a necessity, was
responsible throughout the 1880s for consolidating the efforts of the
museum administrators of earlier years — Staiger, the board of trustees and
Haswell

On 5 June 1883, payment was authorized to the booksellers Williams
and Norgate of an amount of £223.7.0d. The list of acquisitions shows that
the library got more than full value for the money for there were some
outstanding and far-sighred purchases^ 1 . These included Annals and
Magazine of Natural History 1838-1883 (90 volumes); Quarterly Journal of
the Geological Society 1845-1883 (39 volumes); Proceedings of the Zoological
Society 1830-1883 (56 volumes); Transactions of the Zoological Society
1835-1853 (9 volumes); Transactions of the Palaeontographical Society (36
volumes); Zoology ofHM.S. Erebus and Terror (2 volumes); Histoire
Naturelle des Poissons, a series by Cuvier and Valenciennes (22 volumes of
text and 19 of plates). These and similar purchases of inestimable value
created the basis of the museum library, and gave it an importance as a
reference source for the natural sciences that was disproportionate to its
size, This has continued throughout its existence. Nor were the donations
for the year 1883 without significance M : The Hon. Captain Hope gave the
16 volumes of Cuvier's Animal Kingdom. The museum's former curator,

261

Haswell, was the author of one publication— Catalogue of Australian stalk-
and sessile-eyed Crustacea, de Vis and the board acknowledged that —

many valuable additions, both by gift and purchase, have been made
to the Library. The Trustees of the British Museum and those of the
Australian Museum Sydney, and most of the scientific Societies and
establishments of Australia and New Zealand have enriched it with
their several publications; but the most numerous examples of this
liberality have, as usual, been received from the United States
through the Smithsonian Institution 24 .

Towards the end of 1883 the Philosophical Society gave way to a
newly-formed organisation, the Royal Society of Queensland and it applied
to the board for the use of the museum premises for its inaugural

262

meeting 25 . The new society had already enrolled some 67 members 26 .
There was an external entrance to the library through a gate from the
William Street footpath, at the south-eastern end of the building. It was
almost certainly down the pathway from this gate that many of the leading
men of science made their way to the gaslit library on the evening of 8
January 1884. It is appropriate that this meeting should have taken place
in the only scientific institution that then existed in Queensland— the
museum.

Already by the end of 1883 space for the museum's collections was a
pressing need, and at the meeting of the board held in the library on 12
November 1883 Douglas gave notice that at the next meeting 'he would
move that the government be addressed in reference to the establishment
of a free library in the present museum building, and the construction of
another building better adapted to the purpose of a museum'.

Although furnishings for the library were purchased in 1884— six
chairs and a clock 27 — difficulties were growing in that department, de Vis
reporting that the library apartment was inconveniently small and its
shelves already filled. What was called the library was now, in fact, a study
occupied in common by three and frequently four officers engaged on
different subjects — to their mutual hindrance. It was also a reception room
for visitors 28 . The upper floor of the museum was used for the display of
molluscs, anatomy and botany, and one end was filled by the herbarium.

BIBLIOTHECA
ZOOLOGIOA

BBL, HBT. HAT. TOL n.

CABTI8 ft EKGIMIAinr.

ZOOLOGICAL

SOCIETY
PB0CBBDING8

■mil

•F

ttlMHWI

MILMI

VOL. II,

1846186

V9L I

iMO-n

vonnuii

■DUUl

Some of the important acquisitions to the
museum library before 1883 (L to R):
Annals and Magazine of Natural History,
volume 1, series 1, 1838. The first of an
uninterrupted run of this much-used
journal that continues to the present day.
The Zoology ofHMS Erebus and Terror.
The scientific reports of a journey of
exploration that circumnavigated the
Southern Ocean, 1839-43.
Reise de Novara, 1862-5. One of the 1 6
volume set of the scientific reports from
the voyage of the Austrian frigate 1857-9.
Corals, by Milne Edwards and Haime,
published by the Palaeontographical
Society. 1850-54.

Histoire Naturelle des Poissons by Cuvier
and Valenciennes, 1828-50. One of 22
volumes, purchased in 1883.
Bibliotheca Zoologica, Carus and
Englemann, 1846-60. A natural history
bibliography purchased in 1880.
Proceedings of the Zoological Society,
London. The museum continues to
subscribe to this classic journal, first
published in 1830. It is now known as the
Journal of Zoology.

Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative
Zoology, Harvard College vol. 2, 1870-1.
Acquisition continues today through
exchange.

Smithsonian Reports 1880, a gift from the
great American Institution — one of the
many publications it donated to the
Queensland Museum. Acquisition of the
Reports as The Smithsonian Year
continues through exchange.

263

On the ground floor were displayed minerals, fossils and anthropological
items. Zoology was in the mezzanine gallery.

In the basement the crowding was compounded by the arrival of an
important donation to the library in 1884. This, the Specifications of Patent*
from 1617 to 1881 inclusive, came from Britain. The board of trustees had
always intended that the museum should be concerned with technology as
well as natural sciences, and patent specifications were a first priority for d
technological section. Space was somehow found and the Patents volumes
were arranged in a special apartment fitted up for the purposed Late in
1884 the government announced that a new museum would be built, but
year? would pass before the prospect of additional space became a reality.

The inward flow of serials and monographs continued unabated, each
year bringing acquisitions of scientific value. Ten years after the library's
modes! beginnings in 1876 it was receiving further publications oi lasting
value Such as Archiv fur Naturgeschichfe (101) volumes), American Journal
of Science (131 volumes), Zoology of the voyage ofH.M.S. Beagle (5 volumes)
as well as many scientific catalogues, guides and serial parts from
interstate and worldwide sources, such as the British Museum, the
Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, and the Indian
Museum at Calcutta, to mention but a few 1 ". Volumes of the reports of the
important Scientific Results of the Challenger Expedition arrived regularly
ftoil) 1884 onwards Jj . In 1887 and 1888 purchases were not so numerous,
but donations maintained a steady level. The Brisbane School of Arts
made a donation erf the report on the Crustacea : : • -ke-nonlhave

Expedition 1876-1878", and Brisbane and Sydney booksellers were being
approached for publications — though the supply from the latter source
was Small**. In 1889 an important source of publications appears in the
donation lists for the first time; Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London M .
In the initial donation several hundred official publications covering a wide
range of subject areas of interest to the museum were received. Perhaps,
in view of the shortage of space, it was fortunate that, in 1888, the museum
was instructed to transfer the Patents to the Registrar General's Office

Conditions in the basement library could not have been pleasant in
1889 for William Street was being lowered and explosions and dust were
daily nuisances '*. Maintenance of the library had also become a problem.
Apart from space difficulties there was the question of binding. Otto
Hagen bound hundreds of volumes and supplied other items but it appear-
that, about 1889, his business closed, at least at its Roma Street address*.
The need for binding was urgent. In 1890 the museum requisitioned for
200 volumes to be bound by the Government Printing Office, apparently
unaware that funding would have to be arranged despite the fact that a
government department was being called on to provide the service 81
Binding by the Government Printing Office was thus not to provide
the solution.

The supervision of the library collection was now probably the
responsibility of the clencal assistant, Henry Tryon, who came to the
museum in September 1883' w . Tryon became assistant curator in 1885,
though there appears to have been no change in his duties. Tryon, 'a young
and distinguished student', was also secretary of the newly formed RoyaJ
Society* On 1 April 1887 the curator sought approval of the trustees for a
jPOtlth, H. Hurst, 'to perform on trial without salary the duties of clerk and
librarian for as long as may be convenient to the board*. Hurst came on the
staff, but his unpaid status —which seemed to place him even lower on the
reimbursement scale than Mrs Fenwick with her two catskins — was not to

264

remain long. In September he became the geological collector and si
after was referred to as the 'Keeper of Minerals and Fossils', although (he
library remained his responsibility for some years 40 .

In November 1890 the contents of the library Were catalogued,
presumably by Hurst- 1 . This was the first time the items, which had been
accumulating for 14 years, had been brought to account in a central listing.
The form of the catalogue appears to have been a handwritten list, for the
museum did not acquire a typewriter until October 1892 11 , and de Vis
spoke of the catalogue being 'kept posted to date' 12 , almost as though it
was written up like a ledger account. In this period, and fur many j i
afterwards, it was the custom Tor many libraries to issue published
catalogues of their holdings as a working tool for those who wished to use
it Although it W3s intended that the catalogue of the museum library be so
published' 7 this proved to be too COStly. By this time the library had taken
on that character which it bears today, with a preponderance of scientific
periodicals and fewer books.

The Exchange Programme, 1891-1910

It had been the practice until 1H89 for the Royal Society of
Queensland to publish scientific work submitted by de Vis, | he curator
of the museum 43 . However, de Vis was prolific and this was not entirely
practical, so the museum began publication of it s own journal (see Chapto
7). Issue No. 1 of the Annuls of the Queensland Museum was published in
1S9L By the time that No. 2 was presented for approval on 6 May 1892
material sufficient for No. 3 was ready. Continuity of publication seemed
assured. The museum now T had something to exchange for the publications
of other institutions and learned societies. The earliest records show that,
by 1895, the Annals was being sent to exchange partners in many
countries— Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Brazil, Chile, Costa
Rica, Denmark, France, Ireland, Scotland, England. South Africa, Ceylon,
Nova Scotia, Canada, Newfoundland, India, Mauritius) New Zealand,
Straits Settlements, Guatemala, Holland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway,
PfirU, Philippines, Portugal, Finland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
U.S.A. and the West Indies. A number of copies were also addressed to
private persons some of whom had sent copies of their own published
works to the museum 44 .

Not so happy was the situation in respect of staffing of the library.
Because 'the work of the office and library at present performed by the
Keeper of the Minerals and Fossils was to the neglect of his duties as an
expert' the board decided, on 5 June 189X that 'a youth should be engaged
for clerical and other subordinate duty at a salary of about 6 shilling
week*. At least the youth was to be paid for his services which must be
considered some sort of improvement on the terms of Hurst's original
appointment. Hurst did not remain in employment with the museum for
very long thereafter, leaving in November of the same year. The youth,
appointed in September 1891 to look after the library and clerical work,
was A. Preston. In the course of time, after one or two upwards
adjustments in his w T ages, the board decided there would be no further
increases for him because, there being no opportunity for promotion, i hey
ielt it unfair to induce him to stay 4 -'. It seems that Preston went to Ballarat
School of Mines 16 . When he left the museum he was replaced by A )
Norris and subsequently, from 1898, by G.H. Hawkins (see Chapter 3).

The year 1893 was something of a disaster for the institution. This
was the beginning of the great economic depression and the year of the
great flood. Funding was slashed and many staff were retrenched ; '. The

museum library was destined not to be restored to its former position for
several years. Nevertheless, it remained open to students and learned
societies. The curator had been left with 'barely sufficient means to keep
the museum open to the public' 48 . The reduction of staff meant that some
space in the basement was unoccupied and certain other organisations
were given permission to use it. They included the Royal Society, the
newly formed Natural History Society and the Queensland branch of the
Royal Geographical Society of Australasia 48 - 49 . The office clerk was the only
staff member available to handle the library's affairs. A reduction of £150
in the library estimates 50 was partly offset by the sale of £38 worth of
duplicate material to the British booksellers Williams and Norgate 51 . Other
duplicates were exchanged for publications needed by the library and
some were given to the Department of Agriculture library 52 .

The collection continued to expand through donations from other
institutions and societies, and as a result of the exchange of the Annals.
Some purchases, mainly books, had been made and additional book cases
obtained 53 . Lack of binding was becoming a problem of great magnitude.
Hundreds of volumes lodged with the Government Printing Office were
eventually returned unbound on the minister's authority 54 . Binding was
a major problem for a library collection in which scientific periodicals
predominated. When, in 1899, preparations were being made for the move
Kathleen Thomas (nee Watson). to tne Exhibition building a library stocktake revealed 7,342 volumes.

librarian 1933-42. TT . ... & . J . .,....,-

However there was still no card catalogue and no furniture m which it

could have been kept 55 .

Among the temporary staff recruited to assist with the move was

Ernest Albert Lower 56 . In seeking a position Lower wrote that he had

'been in the employ of Dr. Jas. C. Cox of Sydney as Conchologist &

Travelling Naturalist for a number of years; have also a very fair

knowledge of Botany '. Lower was given a job in October 1899 as

'packer' 57 . On 3 March 1900 he became 'printer'. He wrote a very fair hand

and appears to have been engaged on the preparation of the countless

labels needed for exhibits in the new accommodation. On 18 February

1901, some six weeks after the museum re-opened to the public— the

opening took place on 1 January, Federation Day— Lower was appointed

'Librarian and Label Writer' by the minister for Public Instruction 58 . His

appointment was backdated to 1 July 1900. The library seemed assured of

continuing supervision for the first time, but on 27 June 1902, de Vis was

notified that the services of Lower and three other museum staff were to

be dispensed with three days later. The period was eventually extended

to 30 July 59 . The state was still in a period of economic depression and the

new free public library —the Public Library of Queensland— opened, at

the end of April 1902, in the old museum building in William Street 60 . The

staffing required at that new library seems to have been compensated for

by retrenchments at the museum. Lower was the first appointee to be

designated 'librarian'. In later years he developed a very fine collection of

shells, numbering 3000, and resided in Sydney. At this time he recalled his

duties at the museum as including librarian, writer, printer, keeper of

aquariums and clerical duties 61 . A classified card catalogue of the library

was completed in July 1901 and Lower probably made a contribution

towards its preparation 62 . Presumably the catalogue card cabinet, on the

need for which the trustees had deferred a decision in September 1899,

was later obtained 55 . In April de Vis reported that he had acquired, from

the parliamentary library, the 46 volumes of the Scientific Reports of the

Challenger Expedition. This is one of the mysteries of the museum library

266

that has not been resolved, for the museum was purchasing these volumes
from 1884. It indicates very clearly that proper registration procedures for
the library were needed 63 .

Director de Vis was now more than 70 years of age. Museum library
holdings had passed 10,000 items in June 1904, about 90% being volumes
and the remainder fugitive material 64 . Control of the institution passed
from the Department of Public Instruction to the Department of
Agriculture and then to the Chief Secretary's Department. The board of
trustees held its last meeting about September 1907 65 . The Annals of the
Queensland Museum had continued as a medium of exchange but its
publication rate slowed. One improvement did take place before the board
was disbanded — more than 300 volumes were being bound, in April 1907,
by bookbinder George Hooper of Elizabeth Street 66 . There remained a vast
backlog— one that has never been overcome.

Kylie Whitehead, library assistant,
watches as her colleague, Victoria Coops,
uses one of the near vertical ladders
supported on the horizontal fixed rails
that were installed in 1934 — after
librarian Nora Holdsworth had sustained
an injury while 'standing insecurely on a
ladder'.

267

The library outgrew its accommodation
and wound its way through the
building— along both sides of the
passages, through the basement, and into
curators offices and the lecture theatre.

268

A Re-awakening, 1910-1917

The appointment of Hamlyn-Harris as director in October 1910
re-awakened a sense uf direction and opened the nexl phase of library
history, Before taking up the position officially he visited museums
in other Australian states and referred back to the museum lists of
publications he considered vital for its library to possess". The lists were
checked against holdings and approval was obtained from the Chief
Secretary 's Department for the purchase of those not already held. Vere
Chambers, rumoured to be the grandson of de Vis, had been appointed
a short time previously to carry out library and Clerical (hilled 1 **. Robert
Etheridge jnr, in his 1910 report to the premier, describes Chambers as
'a young man of eighteen years and about two years service' whose 'books
are neatly kept He has only an elementary' knowledge of library work' 711 .

Although attempts to catalogue the library had been made previously,
there were no proper accession or registration procedures and it was
impossible to check holdings and record loans adequately, Hamlyn-Harris
arranged for two registers to be opened, one for books and the other for
journals. The first entries were made in 1911 and included the existing
collection. Museum staff who later recalled this period said that it was
Hamlyn-Harris who gathered together the publications previously
scattered throughout the building and housed them in one very large 'light
and airy' room in the basement. From that time forth this room became
the library. The new director, imbued with a sense of purpose, was also
energetic in his endeavours to develop the exchange programme. For this
purpose a new publication with a larger format— the Memoirs of the
Queensland Museum —replaced the Annuls, A number of publications were
found to have been lent to private persons and never returned so Hamlyn-
Harris bent his energies to their retrieval *'. He laboured under irksome
restrictions, requiring approval for even small expenditure on important
items. A letter, dated 31 January 191L sought the authority of the chief
secretary to have Roth's Bulletins on Queensland Aborigines bouno 1

Vere Chambers resigned in 1911 and his place was taken by Clarice
Sinnamon, a member of a well-known Brisbane family v \ Douglas Rannie
continued what would prove to be a line of librarians. He was appointed
in June 1913 on a salary much less than half of what he had previously
received as a classified officer 74 At one time he had been Inspector of
Factories and Shops and Superintendent of Labour at Charters Towers.
His testimonials included one from Sir Samuel Wiilker Griffith at that time
Chief Justice of Australia 74 . Cuthbert Butler— later to be a memt.
parliament 75 — was the next librarian (1915-1917). World War 1 had begun
and there was a consequent breakdown in many exchange arrangements,
particularly those in continental Europe.

Hamlyn-Harris had consolidated the library and given it an identity.
A man of cultivated background, he understood the need and relevance of
a properly functioning library. In other Queensland institutions at this
time and for many years thereafter there was, apparently, a view that
libraries, however neglected and lacking in continuous control they might
be, could somehow instantly deliver services to an expected standard on
demand. In this respect Hamlyn-Harris was ahead of his time on the
local scene.

A Period of Financial Strigency, 1917-1945

Heber Longman, who succeeded Hamlyn-Harris, became the longest-
serving museum director. Joining the staff in 1911 he became director in
1917 and remained in charge until after World War II. It was a stagnant

269

Librarian E.P. Wixted {right), and E.
Crome — collector Of aeronautical
memorabilia-— with Mrs Mary Tully, Sir
Charles Kingsford Smith's widow.
examine part of the Kingsford Smith
collection of memorabilia presented to
the museum aviation collection by Mrs
Tully on behalf of the Kingsford Smith
family.

period for the library, with neither expansion nor contraction in a long
period of financial stringency. Museum staff were fewer at the end of
Longman's tenure than at the beginning. The survival of the institution in
the face of the economic depression between the two world wars was an
achievement in itself. Librarians in Longman's time were Alec Fenwick
(1917-1930), Nora Holdsworth (1931-1933) and Kathleen Watson (1933-
1942). Fenwick had been president of the Waterside Workers' Federation™.
The attributes he brought to the job were not those which aroused
Longman s enthusiasm but they were probably those most needed for
the library at that time:

A Librarian in a State Museum should be an educated person with a
definite interest in science, and with ability to arouse interest in the
work of the institution. Mr Fenwick lacks both the temperament and
the training for this work, and at times his manners and his methods
are not in keeping with his position. As a technical custodian of
books, however, he has done excellent work, and he keeps the
library in good order. He does the work to the best of his ability and
is regular and methodical 77 .

Nora Holdsworth was a graduate in science and Kathleen Watson
a graduate in arts. In 1934 an injury was sustained in the library and
the record of the event reflects the shortcomings of the library
accommodation;

Sir,

Owing to the height of our Library, and the fact that there are no less
than thirteen shelves, one above the other, in most of the series,
there is an element of danger in removing books from the upper
shelves, when standing insecurely on a ladder, I should be extremely
obliged if the Department of Public Works could assist us by placing
some kind of rod or rail on the shelf lines where the long ladder
rests, on which it would securely remain, without slipping, whilst in
use in any one section n .

The rails were put in place and they were there until the museum
moved in 1986— more than fifty years after the incident

270

The Modern Period, 1946-1986

George Mack became director in 1946 and inherited an institution in
a depressed condition following World War II. In the disturbed post-war
period there was a rapid succession of librarians and assistants (see
Appendix2). Claire Forde, who stayed longer than most— from 1957
to 1962 — and made a substantial contribution, was the daughter ot
F.M. Forde who had been prime minister of Australia for a few days in
1945. Shirley Gunn, a zoological assistant, also helped in the library and
later became a well known University of Queensland librarian.

A major part of the library's periodical collection was not bound,
George Mack set himself the task of rectifying this situation, channelling
funds into its accomplishment. He took pride in having secured approval
for a contract with a private firm of bookbinders instead of the
Government Printing Office 78 . Smith and Paterson, the firm engaged,
did much to reduce the massive backlog until the business closed in the
early 1970s,

The publishing practices of the many hundreds of organisations from
whom the museum received publications showed endless variation. They
varied within each publication, from period to period over a spread of
more than fifty years, and from one series to another. Preparation of
complete volumes for binding was laborious and tedious with unending
searching and checking.

A fixed location system had been instituted by Hamlyn-Harris in 1911
and was still in use at that time in many other libraries. It designated l he-
position of a publication by panel, number of shelf and position on shelf,
The location 11/1/2 meant panel 11, shelf X book 2. After fifty years of this
system periodicals in the same series were scattered in a variety of places
on the library's 700 shelves— space at the original location having run out.
Shelves were crammed and the topmost holdings much in need of

An illuminated address to Kingsford
Smith from the Municipality of Lane
Cove — from the collection of
memorabilia presented by the Kingsford
Smith family.

271

Wixted (left) with pioneer aviators Harry
Purvis and Norman Lennon in the room
housing the Thomas* Macleod
Queensland Aviation Collection. This

tad pre iously been the museum's
spirit collection store— until a more
appropriate external building was
constructed for the purpose in the early
1970s.

cleaning. It was Mack's particular desire that all the periodicals and other
publications emanating from one institution or organisation should be
found in one place on the shelves and this was an instruction given to
E.P Wixted when he was appointed librarian in April 196L A new system
was developed and the holdings re-sorted. The new system identified
the publisher as Mack insisted it should. The principle was similar to
that used by the U.SA Public Documents Library.

By this time the library had outgrown its accommodation and had
begun wending its way through the building. The process continued and
eventually library material was located in more than thirty rooms and
corridors. The space difficulty was compounded in the late 1960s with the
development of a history and technology section. Subject areas and librar}
suppliers proliferated accordingly. Publications on clocks, porcelain,
silverware, pottery, costumes, medals, period uniforms, engines, coins and
so on, were now acquired in addition to those on natural history. Some
sections, such as art, needed to be strengthened and others, such as
conservation and maritime archaeology beginning in the early 1980s,
had to be developed from scratch.

Special collections, usually including material other than books
and periodicals, relating to a specific subject area or object, are also an
innovation in the library. At this stage the special collections are a
newspaper collection (1900-1933), Australian patent specifications covering
some seventy years, and a collection of aviation memorabilia and papers.

The aviation collection was named in 1973 for Queensland aviation
pioneer Thomas Macleod. It is interesting that much of Macleod s
pioneering effort took place in 1911 on a hillside at Oxley on a property
now owned by the Sinnamon family. It was also in 1911 that a member of
that family, Clarice Sinnamon, became museum librarian. There is also a
link between the Queensland museum and aviation history in Sir Charles
Kingsford Smith's, aircraft Southern Cross. The original owner of that
aircraft was G.H. — later Sir Hubert— Wilkins, who had bought it for his

272

1926 Arctic expedition partly with savings from his 1923-1925 exploring
expedition to Queensland and the Northern Territory. Those savings
resulted largely from the free rail travel provided by the Queensland
government and the use of the museum as a base for the expedition (see
Chapter 7).

The patents collection also recalls early years of the museum, for
the library lost its original British Patents in 1888 and gained another,
more relevant, Australian collection ninety years later.

Since 1965 there has been a marked extra workload in the library
that has been generated by a growing and increasingly diverse collection,
a larger professional staff and by the problems associated with the
administration of a resource that was scattered throughout the building.
The excellence of the library holdings, especially in the area of natural
history, effected by the efforts of the first board of trustees, and Haswell,
de Vis and Hamlyn-Harris, has also now resulted in its frequent use by
other scientists, either directly or through interlibrary loan. Fortunately,
with the exception of the years 1965 and 1966 when he had to do without
help, Wixted had one, and from 1976, two library assistants.

The museum library is now installed in its new building at South
Brisbane with its computer print-outs and visual display units that resolve,
in seconds, profound bibliographic problems that formerly would have
kept library staff occupied on literature searches for very long periods.
The library has come a long way since 1879 when it moved into its first
new building with its embryonic collection in which the most important
volumes were those acquired from Charles Coxen and Silvester Diggles
and the Reports of the Novara—a gift from the Imperial Academy of
Vienna. Those who, like Wixted, studied in the basement of the
Queensland State Library in the early 1950s will be able to imagine what it
may have been like before 1900 — before gaslight, telephone or typewriter
were installed and with the museum botanist, the carpenter and the
curator working nearby.

Charles Kingsford-Smith, with his
family, visited the museum's aviation
collection in July, 1978. while he was in
Brisbane to celebrate the 50th
anniversary of his father's epic trans-
pacific flight from Oakland, California.

273

MEN OF
GOODWILL

The Boards
of Trustees

Previous page: Mrs Charles C
donated this portrait of her husband —
'Charles Coxen Esq tc CMZS. First
honorary Curator, one of the earliest
Trustees and Contributor's to the
Museum' (board of trustees minutes, *>
August 1887).

In November 1863 everything seemed to be going well for the
Philosophical Society, for the government apparently had
accepted its museum as the Queensland Museum. Not only had
the government provided the Windmill accommodation and
given £100 to further the society's aims, but also the minister
for Lands and Works had just indicated that it was prepared to provide a
site outside the gates of Government House for a museum building. The
society delegated three of its members to discuss this last proposal with
the minister and to raise with him the appointment of trustees for the
museum '.

Those discussions of November 1863 were not fruitful. A museum
building was not seriously discussed again until 1871 and it was to be
even longer before the matter of trustees was raised a second time. The
honorary curator, Charles Coxen, seeking relief from the minutiae of the
museum's management, wrote to the secretary of Lands on 18 February
1874, suggesting that he should be appointed, together with W.H. Miskin
and AX. Gregory, to a board of four members in which would be vested
'all matters connected with the management of the Queensland Museum' 2 .
However, it was not until 26 January 1876 that Under Secretary for Mines
G.L. Lukin recommended the appointment of trustees:

the work that would devolve upon Trustees is performed entirely by
Chas. Coxen Ksq. By appointing several trustees Mr Coxen would be
relieved from some of the duties and responsibilities which are now
becoming very onerous. The following gentlemen— C. Coxen Esq.,
F.O. Darvall Esq., J. Fenwick Esq., WJL Miskin Esq. and A.C. Gregory
Esq.— who would consent to accept the Trust would as Trustees give
material aid in advancing the objects of the Institution.

Secretary for Mines H.E. King MLA, accepted the recommendation in
principle but deleted Darvall from the list and added George Raff, Gresley
Lukin and John Douglas MLA 3 . The trustees that Secretary King
recommended to cabinet on 17 February 1876 were Coxen, Douglas,
Gregory, Raff, Lukin, Fenwick and Miskin. The governor— W.W. Cairns
CMG— approved the appointments on 25 February 1876 '. Karl Staiger, the
custodian of the museum and government chemical analyst, was the
secretary' to the board. The next day, the under secretary (Lukin) writing
to the appointees, referred to the notification of their appointments in that
day's issue of the Government Gazette and went on to say —

The Honourable the Secretary for Works and Mines desires me to
request that among the firsi matters that call the attention of the
Trustees you will be so good as to take into consideration the
eligibility of either of the following sites at present available for the
erections of a New Museum, viz.

1 At the corner of Queen and William Streets, at present occupied
by the Audit and Harbours and Rivers Offices.

2 In the Botanical Gardens.

Subsequently the Trustees will be called upon to consider what
dese ription of building will be most suitable for the purpose.

A sketch plan of a Museum building proposed to be erected on the
first named site is now in this office for inspection by the Trustees 5 .

Now and for some years to come the museum was referred to
interchangeably as either the Queensland Museum or the Brisbane
Museum in official circles. The trustees, at a meeting on 7 March 1876,
decided that it should be called the Queensland Museum and by 1880
this w T as the name invariably used officially.

276

/^ /&7*&vf£-/ <_^3* "fe^Jf**? /^£*e*<-H<** £a*uz*<x4}
<Ls6*- 1^&> *&*i f &*^ZZ. <^£ JU*&*&& epSaZ^f

s^oz^h.**^ ^~^9U /tZ4,s**+£s /gjtgx

^^C^^%r

Charles Coxen to the Hon. the Secretary
of Lands. 18 July 1874 (QSA G149/3)
recommends 'that a Board be appointed'
and draws the minister's attention to the
revenue earned through Staiger's assay
work.

277

A Beginning, 1876-1882

At their first meeting, on 29 February 1876, the trustees decided on
the Queen and William Streets site for the new museum. They asked the
government to inform them what operating funds would be available and
the government's views regarding their use. By 7 March 1876 there is an
indication of some hedging by the government when it informed the
trustees that they were not confined to the two sites previously advised,
but could put forward others for consideration. The trustees resolved to
adhere to their previous decision.

At the same meeting they considered some further instructions they
had received. They had been asked to examine and report on the present
state of the museum and accordingly a sub-committee consisting of
Gregory, Coxen and Miskin was delegated to prepare an inventory of the
collections. The trustees were also asked to advise on the proposed plans
of the new museum building and to make suggestions as to its regulation
and management. The trustees invited colonial architect Stanley, then

Augustus Charles Gregory KCMG,
scientist, explorer and surveyor general
of Queensland and the first chairman of
the museum board of trustees
(photograph by courtesy Oxley Library).

278

absent, to meet them on his return and they decided to obtain copies of
management regulations in force in Sydney and Melbourne. Stanley
submitted his plans on 21 March and they were broadly approved. He
agreed to complete and resubmit them to the board. Gregory and Miskin
were deputed to draw up a set of by-laws for consideration by the board.

The board was launched. Coxen, the only person associated with the
museum who had any practical experience of museology, died on 17 May
1876. However, both Gregory and Miskin understood the role of a museum
and appreciated the importance of the collections. Gregory was a scientist
and explorer of some renown who was establishing a noteworthy career as
the colony's surveyor-general, and Miskin was a public servant whose
hobby was entomology. With the exception of Lukin who was a public
servant turned newspaper editor, the other trustees had pastoral
affiliations— Douglas, although now a parliamentarian, had been a
squatter, as had Coxen in his earlier days; Fenwick was a stock and station
agent and well-known woolbroker; and Raff was a merchant, woolbroker
and sugar grower 6 . Actually, many of the affluent and influential men in
the community were associated with the pastoral industry at this time and,
further, many were members of the Acclimatisation Society and had some
knowledge of natural history. On 4 July 1876 the governor-in-council
approved the appointment of Joseph Bancroft MD 7 , a medical practitioner
of considerable repute who was also interested in natural history, to take
Coxen's vacant place on the board 8 . Attached to the file is a memorandum
stating These are trustees of management only'. Thus no property was
vested in them.

In the meantime, realising the wait they would have before a new
building became a reality, the trustees had sought increased storage space
in the existing Queen Street premises— the old Post Office building. In
June 1876 Gregory, Miskin and Raff were delegated by the board to see
the premier (George Thorn MLA— who was vice-president of the
executive council, minister for Public Works, Mines and postmaster-
general) to seek the rooms then occupied by the detective force in the
same building. At the next meeting Dr Bancroft agreed to discuss with the
hospital board the removal of the hospital dispensary, but it was not until
July 1877 that the museum acquired that extra space (see Chapter 2).

In September 1876 the trustees heard that the government was
intending to select an alternative site for the new museum. The minister
hastened to reassure them promising, on 20 October 1876, that the
museum would be erected on the site of their choice, namely the Queen
and William Streets corner. He further promised that £3000 to fund the
building would be put on the supplementary estimates.

Although it seemed that the building plans were now secure, this was
not the case. It was almost a year before the trustees could confidently
anticipate the move to the new building. On 19 December 1876 they
learned from their colleague Douglas— then secretary of Public Lands—
that the Treasury claimed a prior right to the Queen and William Streets
corner. Further, noxious gases said to emanate from the museum would
preclude choice of a main thoroughfare site 9 . The trustees objected
strenously, as the site was a 'twice chosen one', and decided to wait for
further advice from the government. Then, on 3 January 1877, they
accepted a site extending from the Colonial Stores to Queen Street,
between William Street and the road to the old ferry (now called Queens
Wharf Road) and on 24 January they were informed that the government
had called tenders. The board of trustees approved the amended plans on

> «. j

W.H. Miskin, amateur lepidopterist,
public servant and lawyer (photograph by
courtesy Oxley Library).

Joseph Bancroft MD, (photograph by
courtesy Oxley Library).

279

juhn Fetntfck, stock and station agent
and a outbroke: (photograph iromJubiU'*;
H yiu.vmrv w Qtiv-LHsland.
i -i.d Whitbj Brisbane; 19f)9).

6 February, but indicated that the laboratory and chemical department
should be in a separate building. One further setback occurred on 1
March— they were informed that the government wanted part of the site
returned. The trustees, now thoroughly fed-up, declined this request.
Nothing further was heard of it and they now anticipated that the new
building would be ready for occupation by September 1878. Eventually, ii
was not to be ready until the end of 1879, and even then there was some
difficulty about the government handing it over. On 12 November 1879
Miskin threatened to resign:

he had heard the government had offered the new museum building
to the National Association for their January show. As he thought
this showed that the wishes of the Trustees, who desired to move

the collections as soon as possible, were to receive no

consideration from the government he intended to resign.

Fenwick explained that approval of the trustees was a condition of
the government's arrangement with the National Association and
Miskin 'allowed his resignation to remain in abeyance for the present'. On
21 November the Queensland Insurance Company objected to the
collections being left m the old building — a low premium having been
offered on the understanding that they would be in the new building.
Then, although the government was prepared to hand the building over on
1 December, the trustees decided to wait until Haswell, the new director,
arrived. He was handed the keys and told to engage labour to convey the
collections from the old to the new building on 7 January 1880. Extra
labour for the move cost £1L6.5. itnd a drayman £4,5.0. By 15 March 1880
the museum was installed and open to the public.

Insurance of the collections, arranged early in 1877 in preparation for
the move, was for £4.000, a big sum for those days, showing that they were
by no means insignificant even then.

During its first six years, despite an almost overwhelming
preoccupation with the acquisition of a building, the board had concerned
itself with many other aspects of the museum's operation. The colonial
government was sympathetic to the concept of a museum as a repository
[or the flora, fauna and geology collections of Queensland. Indeed, it had
Set up the board and provided the museum with a building for just that
purpose. Thus, the definition of the primary function of the institution was
not a problem. The trustees proceeded to develop the collections. Between
1876 and 1879 the minutes reveal that a great part of the board's business

oncerned with additions to the collections— by purchase, donation
and exchange — and the museum's responsibilities for those collections.
In fact the trustees did much of the work that, today, would be done by
a curator, actually inspecting specimen lots offered for purchase and
refusing material with which they were dissatisfied. They established the
conditions under which specimens could be loaned — and these were
usually stringent— they agreed to Joans for scientific research, but loans
for other purposes w r ere not so readily agreed to; nor would they lend
unique specimens. On 20 October 1876 the secretary 7 was directed to
inform the curator of the Australian Museum —

That however willing the Trustees were in forwarding the curator's
scientific work, they could not allow that the Museum part with its
unique specimens even for a short time.

Of course, not all the trustees were intransigent about loans— but
Miskin was. His convictions are reflected in the minutes of the board
meeting of 16 April 1877, where he referred to a special meeting of the

280

board, called by Fenwick, that he— Miskin — had not attended. It had been
convened to reconsider and to rescind, a previous decision not to send
specimens to the Sydney agricultural exhibition. Although there was not
a quorum at the special meeting, many of the trustees had signed a
minute authorising the despatch of mineral specimens.

Mr Miskin protested against, in the first place, the singular manner
in which the meeting had been convened, the notices only having
been issued upon the same day as that for which the meeting was

called at noon ; next a re-opening of a matter which he contended

had already been decided by resolution at a previous and properly
convened meeting (20th March) that nothing should be exhibited at
the Sydney exhibition except the colour photographs; further against
the adoption of the practice of the Board coming to a decision upon
matters affecting the management of the institution by written
memorandums signed singly by the members instead of discussing
them in open meeting— and again most strongly against the principle
of allowing any of the specimens forming part of the Museum
collections to leave the Museum premises and custody of the
Trustees.

Later in the meeting Miskin 'objected to the accounts for expenses
incurred in sending specimens to the Sydney Exhibition being paid from
Museum funds'. Following this incident the board unanimously resolved,
on 18 July 1877, presumably in regard to type or unique specimens for
exhibition —

that it was now time to absolutely set the matter at rest

and decided that for the future it is inexpedient to make any

exception to the rule of strict refusal to allow any portion of the
museum collections to leave the museum premises for any purpose
whatsoever.

There was general agreement that 'spare duplicate' specimens could
be loaned provided there was no expense to the board. At this same
meeting another important decision was made— the 'sale of museum
materials to any person was beyond the scope of the board'.

A few years later the trustees received a request from the National
Association to send a collection for an international exhibition, again in
Sydney. At the meeting of 7 August 1879, Miskin was persuaded that it
was desirable for the museum to be represented and undertook to select
the items to be sent. He selected so few that the colonial secretary
protested that surely the Queensland Museum could do better in view of
the importance of national representation. The board appointed two others
of their number on 18 August to help Miskin make a further selection of
material. Miskin may have been right in his reluctance to lend material.
Following the international exhibition in Sydney the items were sent on to
the Melbourne international exhibition. By June 1881 they had arrived
back in Brisbane severely damaged 'the contents of all the larger packages
being a perfect wreck' owing to 'gross negligence displayed in their
packing' 10 . The museum had received a medal for their display (see
Chapter 4).

Meanwhile, as the new building was nearing completion, the trustees
had decided that a curator should be appointed. As early as 21 March 1876
Coxen had pointed out that Staiger was doing the work of a curator. No
doubt this continued after Coxen died, even though his dual role as
museum custodian and analytical chemist probably made it difficult.
Nevertheless, Staiger never became curator— he appears to have lost the
trustee's confidence and they looked elsewhere (see Chapter 3). The board
minutes 6 March 1979 record that it was thought that —

John Douglas MLA, squatter and
politician, later magistrate at Thursday
Island (photograph by courtesy of Oxley
Library).

281

ley Lukilt public servant and
newspaper editor (photograph b>

. Oxley Lit i:.

a good mail might be procured at £400 a yeai and that when the
collections were removed t<> the new building a man of suitable
attainments and Lhe requisite business capacity for carrying on
unremitting correspondence with scientific bodies in all parts of
the world was, at present, the most urgent need of the institution.

In the annual report of 1878-9> recommending the urgent appointment
of a suitable officer to superintend the detailed management and
supervision of the museum, the trustees nominated a higher salary:

liie Board (members) are strongly of the opinion that a first class
man should be secured from the old country' and they think that
1*600 per annum is the least that could be offered (particularly as
there are no quarters provided for residence) likely to attract the
attention of a man of such attainments as would raise the institution
to the position it is hoped it will command.

The salary, eventually offered was a mere £200 per annum. So
William Haswell BSc, MA (Edinburgh) came, and went within the year
(see Chapter 3).

One of the applicants for the position of curator was Gerard Krefft,
formerly the curator of the Australian Museum in Sydney. Krefft had been
relieved of his position in that museum on what appear now to have been
contrived charges made by the Sydney trustees. He never had been
reinstated nor had he been able to find another position. Friction between
Krefft and his board had developed over some of its members's unilateral
manipulation and use of both museum staff and collections. Naturally
Krefft had objected. Ultimately, in September 1874, without power to
dismiss him and being unsuccessful in obtaining his resignation, the
trustees had had him evicted from the curator's quarters in the museum 11 .
Two of the most reliable trustees had resigned over the incident, one of
them observing that —

ii would be difficult to find a Curator to work like Krefft; he has
made our Museum the admiration of the scientific visitors 12 .

Krefft is now regarded as the best Australian vertebrate zoologist
of his day. He had been the first to recognise the significance of the
Queensland lungfish, Neoeeratodus forsteri Krefft. He published
monographic works on snakes and mammals of Australia and his authority
in the field of vertebrate palaeontology at that time was challenging Sir
Richard Owen's in the British Museum:

Krefft was one of the first to raise the banner of colonial independent
expertise backed by the rising importance and stature of the

colonial museum D .

He had written, on 11 March 1879, to let the Queensland trustees
know that he was an applicant for the 'position of curator at the
Queensland Museum', enclosing testimonials, offering his library and
collection to the museum at nominal cost if he should be appointed,
and offering—

to begin work without payment for a month or two just to become

acquainted with the nch stores which your museum undoubtedly

possesses w .

Krefft died, destitute, in 1881, at the age of 5L

Hasweli's application for the Queensland position, received by the
board on 19 February 1879 was supported by a recommendation from
Krefft's successor in the Australian Museum, E.P. Ramsay. Hasweli's
academic record was good — but that on its own does not explain why the
museum board choose the untried and inexperienced man from

282

Edinburgh in preference to Krefft, except that perhaps the choice reflects
the influence of the Sydney trustees. Certainly Krefft had had the support
of at least one eminent naturalist in Queensland — Silvester Diggles— who
wrote to the Brisbane Courier suggesting Krefft as a suitable curator for
the new museum B .

In any case, Haswell's scientific stature, as the board had hoped, did
confer a new prestige on the museum that was probably enhanced by its
new building. The collections continued to expand. On 20 August 1880
the minutes record that during June and July the museum had received:

214 bird skins, many of them rare, besides mammals fishes etc. from
collector Broadbent (then on contract to the board) at Cardwell; also
a good many from other sources; a collection of corals from a dealer
at Bowen; 2 cases of fossil bones from Clifton, Darling Downs;
specimens of Fiji products from the Fijian government; 2 dugongs
purchased

A taxidermist had been appointed and the Queenslander of 13 March
1880 concludes a glowing account of the displays in the new building with
the remark that —

one of the many advantages of a competent scientific gentlemen as
curator is that opportunities of judicious purchase are not likely to be
lost.

The trustees proudly refer to the museum — the only scientific
institution in the colony at that time— as the scientific centre of the 'great
and varied territory of the colony' in their report of 1879-80. In the same
report they express their embarrassment about Haswell's low salary:

provision made for the remuneration of this officer— viz., £200 per
annum — being, as is obvious, of but a mere temporary character to
meet the occasion, requires now to be placed on a more satisfactory
footing, and it is hoped that the Government will recognise the
necessity of remedying this palpable incongruity by providing a
salary consistent with the importance of the office and adequate to
the acquirements of the holder thereof.

The government was not convinced. Haswell's resignation came after a
disappointing parliamentary debate from which it was apparent that his
salary would not be increased. At least the move to the William Street
building was achieved during his tenure.

It was March 1882 before Haswell's replacement, Charles Walter de
Vis BA (Cantab.), was appointed. All through 1881, F.M. Bailey, the keeper
of the herbarium then in the museum, was temporary curator and the
business of the museum proceeded as usual. At their regular meetings the
trustees discussed the collections — more exchanges, loans, purchases; the
educational role of the museum; and the library— then the only collection
of scientific literature in the colony freely open to students. They wanted
the library to be as complete as possible. It was an ambitious project but
one that they did have some success with. Today the library is one of the
most important repositories of early zoological and geological works in the
state and this is due to the efforts of the first board of trustees in the 1880s
(see Chapter 13).

They also recommended that the museum be open on Sunday
afternoons and, despite opposition from the churches, the minister for
Mines decided, on 13 October 1881, that this would be done. It was a
decision that the public welcomed and one that has continued to this day.

Despite its successes during its first six years, board meetings were
not well attended. Miskin relates one of the inconveniences resulting from
this in a letter tabled at meeting on 25 September 1877. Apparently Under

George Raff, merchant, woolbroker and
sugar grower (photograph by courtesy
Oxley Library).

283

Louis A. Bernays FLS, clerk of the
Legislative Assembly (photograph from
Queensland 1900, Alcazar Press,
Brisbane).

John M. Macrossan MLA, miner and
politician — secretary for Mines
(photograph by courtesy Oxley Library).

j***^

K.I. ODoherty MD, pardoned political
deportee (photograph by courtesy Oxley
Library)

Secretary Lukin detected what he regarded as an irregularity in the way
the board dealt with the vouchers presented for payment. Miskin and
Custodian Staiger had pointed out to Lukin that there was no permanent
chairman— the chairman was elected at each meeting— and no number
was set down for a quorum. Miskin continued:

it has been the practice not to entertain other business than the
passing of vouchers with a less number than three; and the members

present if less than three sign the vouchers (even if only one)

there having been a difficulty in obtaining a regular attendance of
three members of the board at ordinary meetings. Mr Lukin still

persisting in refusing to receive the vouchers I have, to satisfy his

scruples, signed the vouchers as Chairman, notwithstanding the
seeming incongruity of making myself Chairman of a meeting at
which I was the only member present. It is necessary that the
vouchers should be passed in order that the claimants may receive
their money, otherwise I would have declined to commit so absurd
an inconsistency.

The board's existence was also marred by constant change in its
membership. It seemed that no sooner was a vacancy filled than another
arose. Before the move into the new building, the minister for Mines
nominated extra members— Kevin Izod O'Doherty, Irish nationalist and
medical practitioner who had originally been transported to Australia and
subsequently was unconditionally pardoned; and Lewis Adolphus Bernays
FLS, the clerk of the Legislative Assembly 16 . They were appointed on
7 February 1878 17 . Bernays became honorary secretary to the board from
30 August 1878 to relieve Staiger, but relinquished the position three
months later when he visited New Zealand. He took specimens to New
Zealand with him 'with a view to the initiation of friendly intercourse

between the museum and kindred institutions which might prove

mutually advantageous' 18 . Indeed it was — the board entered into
correspondence with his contacts in that country and donations and
exchange of material resulted. Bernays also was particularly anxious to
develop the herbarium. He resigned from the board on 9 May 1879 1$ \
apparently frustrated by governmental interference, the board's
impotence, and perhaps some dissatisfaction with Staiger:

I have felt that it would be impossible to secure for the museum a
high character among kindred Institutions in other parts of the
world, or its proper sphere of usefulness within the colony unless
the policy of management could be entrusted for carrying out to
an officer in whose capacity for the work of the curatorship the
managing body had implicit trust, and over whom they had entire
control.

This indispensible condition of successful management of the
Institution being absent, and the credit of the Trustees being thereby
seriously compromised, I did not see any other course open to me
than to resign 20 .

The appointment of Bernays' replacement, John Murtagh Macrossan
MLA, former miner 21 , was gazetted on 18 October. He formally accepted
the position only on 3 March 1880, possibly because of a slip-up in
paperwork. As Macrossan was the minister the oversight hardly mattered.
Gresley Lukin also resigned in March 1880. Charles Hardie Buzacott
MLC 22 , newspaper proprietor and editor of many years standing, was
appointed on 28 July 1880 23 and resigned after only 15 months— on
28 October 188L Reading his letter of resignation one wonders why he
had accepted nomination:

284

My time is already over-taxed and I am opposed to the management
of public institutions by nominee, honorary and irresponsible boards.
I suggest the cost of the Museum be defrayed by rates or
contributions and the Board could then be elected by the ratepayers
or contributors. Where the entire cost is met by the State,
administration would be much more advantageously conducted by a
responsible Minister of the Crown 24 .

It was almost a year later— 23 October 1882— that the premier wrote
to the minister for Public Works and Mines advising that he wished Sir
Arthur Palmer KCMG to be appointed a trustee of the museum. This was
gazetted on 5 November 25 . Palmer was a pastoralist of substance. He had
been a member of the Legislative Assembly and premier and, at the end
of 1881, had been appointed to the Legislative Council as president 26 . He
eventually became chairman of the museum board of trustees and some
stability in the membership ensued.

Charles H. Buzacott MLC, newspaper
proprietor, editor and politician
(photograph by courtesy Oxley Library).

Arthur H. Palmer KCMG MLA,
pastoralist and politician— premier and
president of Legislative Council
(photograph by courtesy Oxley Library).

285

Richard Gailey, architect (photograph by
courtesy Oxley Library).

The Hon. Berkley B. Moreton MLA,
secretary for Public Instruction
(photograph by courtesy Oxley Library).

A Period of Growth, 1883-1892

In 1880, after the move to the new building, rumours were spread
about the disappearance of specimens during the move (see Chapter 8).
The trustees rejected these rumours but the government did not. A select
committee was set up to enquire into and report on the working of the
museum 27 . This enquiry is not referred to in the board minutes.
Nevertheless it may have been the recommendations from that enquiry
that resulted in the more liberal treatment the museum received from the
government after Haswell resigned.

de Vis' appointment, on a salary of £400 per annum, heralded a
decade of respite from the ever present museum staff problems that
otherwise plagued this board for the whole of its existence. In its annual
report for 1882 the board thanked the government for the liberal manner
in which its needs had been met. At this time, as well as the curator and
the taxidermist there were two collectors, and another scientist, Henry
Tryon, was appointed as clerical assistant the following year. The museum
was able to get on with its jobs of collecting specimens of the state's fauna
and geology and providing an interpretive and educational centre for
the community.

The trustees were proud of the collections and were anxious to
improve them. Fearful that a refusal would prejudice further gifts from
donors they tended to accept all material offered. The two collectors were
also busy in the field amassing specimens for a museum that, before very
long, was to overflow. Every month the curator's report to the board
contained long lists of specimens donated, exchanged and purchased.
Between 1879 and 1893, the board's proceedings, including the director's
report complete with its list of donors and specimens, were published in
the Brisbane Courier— no doubt encouraging others to donate material to
the museum.

In its 1883 annual report the board warned the government that the
new building was too small. In 1885 the board expressed its regret that
there were no preparations for a new building despite the government
having invited its recommendation on this topic. In 1887, again in its
annual report, the board expressed its regret that although the sum of
£40,000 had been voted nearly five years previously for the erection of a
new museum and library no steps had yet been taken — 'The present
(William Street) building (as has frequently been brought to your notice)
though capable of conversion to a public library is totally unfit for a
museum'.

The board must have been feeling frustrated for at its meeting of
3 October 1890 it raised, again, a matter that was referred to many
times during its history:

The derogatory position of the Board as Trustees in name only
without any legal faculties became a subject of animated expression
of opinion and the Curator was instructed to draft a letter to the
Chief Secretary conveying to him the pronounced feeling entertained
on the matter and requesting him to create them or others a Trust
by legislative enactment.

Then, in 1890 plans of a proposed new museum building in Albert
Park — on the northwest side of the central city area — were examined by
the trustees and approved. The government called tenders, but in 1891 the
trustees lamented that no tender had been accepted. There must have
been indications even then of the dark clouds of the depression looming
on the financial horizon.

286

However, before the storm broke, an event of significance in the
history of the museum occurred. Miskin was an amateur entomologist, his
hobby being Lepidoptera (butterflies). He had published numerous
taxonomic papers on this subject between 1874 and 1892 and had been
awarded fellowship of both the Linnean and Entomological Societies. In
1890 he wrote A Synonymical Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Rhopalocera
(Butterflies) of Australia. The work represented over twenty years study of
the subject in Queensland and he offered it to the board. It was accepted
and published in 1891 as the first issue of the Annals of the Queensland
Museum. The creation of the Annals certainly pleased the curator, de Vis,
whose research output was prolific and who sometimes had to resort to
publication in the daily press (see Chapter 7). Thus began the publication
of the museum's own journal — now the Memoirs of the Queensland
Museum — reporting the results of its researches to scientists around
the world.

Meanwhile there had been further board changes. In 1885
responsibility for the museum and its board was transferred from the
Department of Works and Mines to the Department of Public Instruction.
On 1 May 1885 Dr O'Doherty, writing from Sydney, resigned from both the

FA Blackman, grazier (photograph from
Clarke, C.G.Drury, 1985, in /J?. Hist. Soc.
Qd 12 no. 2).

Albert Norton MLC, formerly speaker of
the Legislative Assembly (photograph
from Queensland 1900, Alcazar Press,
Brisbane).

287

James Chataway MLA, newspa
praprieler and politician— secretary fur
Public Lands and Agricul
(photograph from Queensland 1900,
Alcazar Press, Brisb

Central Board of Health and the Queensland Museum board 28 . The
museum board could not have been informed for on 8 August 1885, de Vis
by direction of the trustees, wrote to the minister pointing out the poor
attendances at board meetings of certain trustees (namely O'Doherty and
Douglas) whose absence from Brisbane on official duties precludes their
attendance at meetings'. O'Doherty was often absent on intercolonial
visits, while Douglas by this time was resident magistrate at Thursday
Island. The letter concluded by nominating Albert Norton, speaker of the
Legislative Assembly, for appointment to the board. The secretary for
Public Instruction, Berkely Basil Moreton MLA, whilst approving the
letter on 14 August never had it acted upon. Instead, on 28 August,
Moreton himself was appointed a trustee™ Moreton, a younger son of the
Eari of Ducie and both pastoralist and politician 3 ' was another example of
a minister of the crown being appointed to the board — others being
Macrossan and Douglas. In late October 1888 Norton was again
nominated to the board and on this occasion was appointed'* 1 . Raff died in
1889, to be followed by Macrossan in 189L Then, on 30 September 1891
Miskin resigned from the board*. To replace Miskin, Raff and Macrossan
the board nominated the under secretary of the Department of Public
Instruction — on an ex officio basis, Richard Gailey —a well-known
architect, and Frederick Archibald Blackman — a semi-retired grazier
resident in Brisbane n . On 12 March the under secretary advised the board
he considered it desirable from the official viewpoint that he should not be
a trustee so, on 22 March, the board asked the minister, W.O. Hodgkinson
MLA— formerly explorer, journal ist, civil servant 13 , to accept nomination,
which he did. Thus on 21 April 1S92 all three — Gailey, Blackman and
Hodgkinson— were appointed iJ

Shortly after his appointment Blackman developed a hearing
disability. He became so deaf that he tendered his resignation a little over
a year later :i \ a real loss to the board. He was a friend of Norton's and was
interested in natural history and museums, being the donor not only of
reptile species subsequently described by de Vis* but also of the model
stockyard (see Chapter 11). Hodgkinson lost not only office but his seat in
the Legislative Assembly on 13 May 1893. He went at once to Western
Australia where he won wide respect as an expert on mining. He resigned
his seat on the museum board towards the end of 1893 J7 _ In June 1894
Bancroft died. It was to be the end of the century before steps would be
taken to fill these vacancies,

A Period of Regression, 1893-1907

The economic collapse of 1893 was disastrous for the museum. Not
only were the plans to have a new building abandoned but also there was
little joy for the trustees at all as can be seen from the general history of
the museum from this year. They saw themselves as conducting a holding
operation and the various regressive moves upset them deeply. Many of
the staff were retrenched, leaving tht director— de Vis, two attendants
and a young clerical assistant to run the museum. It was not possible to
take any initiatives to make the museum more useful and attractive to the
community, They had to stop supplying educational collections to state
schools and schools of arts; the library vote was cut off with consequential
loss of serials and it was not then always possible to answer inquiries
about new scientific discoveries; and after only two issues (1891 and 1892),
publication of iheAnmls ceased until 1897.

In 1896 the gloom began to lessen. The government opened
discussion with the trustees about the adaptation, for the museum, of the

288

financially troubled National Associations Exhibition building on Gv
Terrace. The trustees found the proposal acceptable. The building was to
became available in June 1399, but without the section known as the
concert hall. Alterations to the exhibition hall and basement to adapt it for
the museum's use took some months to complete, The museum in its
William Street building closed its doors to the public on 2 November 1899
on 2 October it had begun to pack, and all materials and collections had
been moved from William Street to Gregory Terrace by 18 December 1899.
The museum was in a suitable state to reopen to the public in its new
domicile on 1 January 1901 There had been only two hitches. In his diary
de Vis records that the only injury during the move was to a large dugong
which had slipped from its sling and was much damaged in its fall. And on
31 December 1899 troops ol the second Queensland contingent, on their
way to the Boer War, had been quartered in the building— rank and file in
the concert hall, NCOs and the doctor in the exhibition hall and officers
in seven of the ten rooms in the basement. They had been installed by
order of the premier.having been flooded out of camp ai Pinkenba. de
Vis, in reporting it to the board on 6 January 1900, complained that it was
making it very difficult to unpack. It was 29 January before the troops
were reported to have vacated the building.

Right through the bad years from 1893 until the board's dissolution
in 1907, Norton and Gailey were zealous in their attendance at board
meetings. The minutes reveal that these two, usually on their own,
continued with the usual business of the board — negotiating specimen
and library acquisitions, approving vouchers and generally supporting the
hard-pressed curator who, without this support, might well have despaired
utterly. Their efforts certainly kept the board going and very likely the
museum too. Other board members showed their lack of interest by not
attending. Perhaps they felt there was nothing much to do with the
fortunes of the institution at a nadir. Perhaps they had troubles of their
own. Palmer had died, whilst still a trustee, on 19 March 1898. Ill health
had dogged him in the last years of his life and a reasonably good
attendance record at board meetings had fallen to virtually nothing.
Gregory, scientist, foundation member of the board and effectively its
spokesman and its leader in its formative years, was another of those who
no longer attended meetings.

The government decided to do something about this board of
absentee members. At the end of July 1899 the minutes note a letter from
the minister of Public Instruction thanking Norton and Gailey for their
attention to the affairs of the board and asking if they thought it ought to
be strengthened in the event that resignation of some of its present
members should occur. In August Norton and Gailey, the only trustees
now attending meetings, nominated Cameron, Marks and Sutton, and
reminded the minister of the board's 'desire to be constituted a corporate
body'. On 30 September it was noted that, although the names submitted
were acceptable to the minister, the board had no power to procure
resignations from the inactive trustees as the minister had suggested
it should.

Eventually, on 17 November 1899, the government did dissolve the
old board. On the same day Norton and Gailey were reappointed, while _. , ta _ _ . " 71 ' , . . _

, * '. rr Lharles F. Marks MD MLC (photograph

new appointments were John Cameron, pastoralist, company director and from Queensland Men and Industries.

politician, James Vincent Chataway MLA, newspaper proprietor and Brisbane 18881.

politician (secretary for Public Lands and Agriculture); Charles Ferdinand
Marks MD MLC and J.W. Sutton, iron master with an interest in physical

289

Alderman JW. Sutton, iron-mastei
(photograph from Greenwood, G. and
Laverty, J, 1959, Brisbane 1859 1959,
Weld Zeider Publications, Brisbane).

science**. The members not reappointed were Gregory, Douglas, Fen wick
and Moreton Early in 1901 Chataway's health failed and he died in April
1901, but was not replaced immediately.

The annual report for 1899, signed by Norton, concluded with yet
another appeal to the minister to establish the board's—

administration of the Museum on a more satisfactory basis by giving
us Statutory powers as we have before suggested.

On 26 April 1902 there were further retrenchments— the staff was
reduced to four again and the budget was halved. The trustees observed
that the museum could carry on if its activities were reduced to the
cleaning and the preserving of specimens— and indeed that was what
happened. In the same year the control of the institution passed from the
secretary for Public Instruction to the secretary for Agriculture and Stock.
The board's annual reports became short sectional articles in the reports
of the Department of Agriculture and Stock. On 14 November 1905 Alfred
Jefferis Turner, paediatrician and entomologist, and Ernest George
Edward Scriven, under secretary, Department of Agriculture and Stock
were appointed trustees^. On 10 November 1905, shortly before Scnven
was appointed to the board, Gailey sought to resign on the ground that the
reduced appropriation left little for trustees to do. By direction of Minister
Digby F. Denham MLA, Scriven wrote to Gailey on 15 November
requesting him to withdraw his resignation. Gailey replied the next day
stating that as it was the desire of the minister he would do so. He set
forth the whole of the reasons for his resignation:

1st There is very little to do for so many trustees.

2nd

,'irrl

4th

1 am coming up to 70 years of aye, which is beyond the Limit
prescribed for the Civil Service, and thought that, that limit
might be applicable to Trustees alsu,

That your appointment to the Trust indicates a desire on the
part of the Minister to manage the Institution directly through
his Department and was really Tantamount to a want of

Confidence in the existing Trustees.

I had no desire to stand in the way of any Contemplated
reform by the Minister and hence left him free to make fresh
appointments if he so desired.

But now that your Letter assures me on Ml these matters, 1 will gladly
Continue the IVust -is heretofore* 1 .

These seem quite reasonable grounds for resignation Gailey, who
had conscientiously attended board meetings for six years, probably
understood how badly the museum needed a change and even may
have hoped for one. Politically Denham may not have wanted Gailey's
resignation, possibly thinking it would draw unwelcome attention to
the museum.

Then in April 1906. while Denham was still secretary for Agriculture,
the Brisbane Observer published an article entitled 'The Queensland
Museum— Its Success and Failure— A Critical Sketch* In brief the article
praised the quality of the collections, but criticized strongly the taxidermy
of natural history specimens and their arrangement — or rather lack of it.
The presence of many pictures was criticised and there was a suggestion
that they should be in an art gallery rather than a museum. Some genera
and artefacts were said to be poorly represented while others were over-
emphasised. The article conceded that the trustees were handicapped
by the building itself 'and possibly by shortage of funds' but the author
considered they had 'evidently a good deal to learn'. The article was

290

directed by Scriven to be placed with the department's museum papers
on 17 April 1906 41 . This article may have caught the attention of William
Kidston, premier, chief secretary and treasurer In any rase, his attention
was certainly drawn to the museum later in the year when W.E. Roth,
formerly chief protector of Aborigines, sold, to the Australian Museum,
the valuable collection of artefacts that belonged to the Queensland
government and should have been lodged in the museum (see Chapter 10).
On 20 September 1907 Kidston tools over control of the museum from the
minister oil Agriculture and Stock and the next day the chairman of the
board was advised of Hie change. Four days later Scriven, under secretary
in the Department of Agriculture and Stock, tendered his resignation as
a trustee of the museum, but stated that if it should be desired thai
he continue to act in that capacity he would be pleased to do so. His
resignation was accepted 4 '. The last recorded meeting of the board was on
28 September 1907— apparently it was a meeting convened to wind up its
affairs, and it is a sketchy set of minutes that records it. Confirmation of
the disbanding of the board of trustees is to be found in the Annals of the
Queensland Museum — number 7 of June 1907 was published by the
authority of the board, number 8 of March 1908 was published by the
authority of the premier, W. Kidston MLA.

However, disbanding the board was not the whole solution. Three
years later Kidston, who was still in office, decided that he needed advice.
He wrote to the premier of New South Wales:

It being my intention to endeavour to place the Queensland Museum
on a more satisfactory footing than at present it has occurred bi
that as a preliminary step it would be advisable to secure a full
report on the present condition of the Institution from a competent
authority, and 1 am anxious to know whether you would allow Mr
Robert Etheridge. Curator of the Sydney Museum, to undertake
the duly ^.

Kidston wanted Etheridge to come urgently, within the next two
weeks. The New South Wales premier was agreeable and so was
Etheridge Thus, on the 14 June, having obtained his own board's
approval he left for Brisbane on 'Wednesday evening's train'* 4 .

To the beleaguered and forgotten staff Kidston's interest and
Etheridge's arrival must both have been momentous events. There was
CJ. Wild, formerly entomological collector, and now acting director since
de Vis' retirement in 1905. Kendall Broadbent, once the museum's most
able collector but, since 1893, one of only two attendants, was 73. The
other attendant was 70, The attendants also did the cleaning. Two young
men— J. Lamb in the industrial department and W.E. Weatherill assistant
to the taxidermist— were both doing a wide variety of jobs, Then there
was the taxidermist, A. Alder aged 61 and a librarian-clerk.

Kidston asked Etheridge to report on the purpose and functions of
museums in general and whether the Queensland Museum fulfilled them;
on the condition and appropriateness of the items in the museum; on the
competence of the staff; and on any other items worth noting. He also
asked him to produce a general report on the best means of making the
institution what it should be.

Etheridge's handwritten, preliminary report was handed to Kidston
before he left Brisbane about 27 June 1910 and the general report was
posted on 1 July 1910— less than one month after Kidston had written his
initial request to the premier of New South Wales.

Etheridge's report was not complimentary to either the staff or
the museum tf , The quality of some of the material in the collections

John Cameron JP, pastoralist, company
director and politician (photograph from
Queensland 1900. Alcazar Press,
Brisbane).

W.O. Hodgkinwn MLA, cxplti

journalist, public servant and polilican
(photograph by oourteey Oxley Library).

291

impressed him — especially the fossils and the New Guinea collections.
Weatherill and Lamb he thought were bright and promising young men.
He found little else to praise, and, concluding his preliminary report, he
said that 'the Queensland Museum leaves on my mind a feeling of gloom,
absence of taste and disjointed elements' 4 *. He emphasised the need for a
professionally qualified director.

On 19 July 1910 Kidston sent his thanks—

for the care and trouble you have taken in connection with our
museum. To quote Mr Wild's words, which he used on the morning
of our visit to the institution but which you may have either not
noticed or forgotten "I am sure good will come of your visit", for
your very illuminative and exhaustive report makes the path of
reform one very easy to travel 4 *.

Robert Etheridge jnr, director of the
Australian Museum, Sydney.

292

Kidston did not table Etheridge's report in parliament — in reply tu a
question in the house asking if he would, he gave the unequivocal reply
'No M7 . His solutions to the museum problem were simple, direct and his
own. He did not replace the board and he did appoint a well qualified
director, K. Hamtyn-Harris. The museum was revitalised.

During the period from February 1876 to September 1907, 24 people
had served as trustees of the museum. Of these 11 were politicians at
the tune of their appointment, five were public servants, one was an
ex-politician, one an ex-public servant, and only srx came from what would
now be called the private sector. They all were influential members of the
community, five even held ministerial office at the time they wen.
museum trustees. Although, with the exception of Bancroft, Douglas and
O'Doherty, they lacked evidence of formal education in the twentieth
century sense — that is degrees and professional qualifications — they were
products of th ! v of the 19th century liberal education.

However, the board was handicapped by lack of foresight and political
neglect, of its own inexperience and of the economic depression. The lack
.sight lay in creating an ad hoc body with no legislative backing nor
even a corporate entity. Although the trustees tried to persuade their
political masters that the board needed these statutory* powers, these
efforts were to no avail. Politically the museum, including its board, was an
orphan, tossed from department to department — first Works and Mines.
then Public Instruction and finally Agriculture and Stock— and had not
prospered with any one. While in the Department of Agriculture and Stock
it had even had the under secretary— Scriven— as a trustee but no benefit
to the museum had accrued. Primarily as a result of the depression, the
institution the board was to manage had virtually no staff infra-structure,
The trustees' own inexperience resulted in their approval of the plans for
a building that was inadequate from the day it was occupied. Jt was
Premier Kidston's interest in the institution, as a result of the mauling the
museum had received in the press, and his view that all was not well that
finally determined the fate of the board.

Nevertheless, the board had achieved a new building for the museum
and, having watched and abetted the institution as it overflowed that
building, had found it another home that sheltered it for the next 86 years.
Most importantly, however, the board had preserved the scientific status
of the institution by the appointment of qualified curators; by the
publication of the Annals of the Queensland Museum and the establishment
of a library; and, recognising the fundamental role of a museum, it had
worked tirelessly to build up the collections and protect them from
alienation and thus had formed the basis for a museum of stature. The
museum benefits from its efforts to this day,

A Rebirth

During its first years without a board the museum went through a
period of development promoted by Kidston. Later, government interest
flagged once more and, without a board of trustees and without legislation
or political influence, the effort? of successive directors were not
successful in advancing the museum's cause. In 1929 there was a Public
Service Commissioner's enquiry into the museum conducted by Inspectors
Irwin and Page H unify. Their report was faintly critical, and its
recommendations, while largely devoted to administrative procedures, did
include one that an advisory committee of interested scientists be set up 46 .
Longman's response was defensive, drawing attention to the very real
improvements that had been effected in the 18 years since Erheridge

Emtwl George Edward Scriven, puJ
servant — under secretary lor Agriculturr
and Slock (photograph bj courtesj
Library),

A. Jeiferis Turner MD paediatrician and
entomologist (pholoi^raph by court*!

Oxley Library)

293

had reported. He was cautious about the appointment of an advisory
committee, but he did ask that 'serious consideration be given to the
appointment of a board of trustees — as in most National Museums' 49 .
The government set up another enquiry into the museum in 1933, asking
Professor Richards of the University of Queensland, and G. W. Watson,
under secretary, Chief Secretary's Department, to report. Their
recommendations, delayed by Richard's involvement with Markham's
investigation for the Carnegie Corporation (see Chapter 2), also included
one that trustees be appointed 50 . Nevertheless the institution remained
a sub-department of the Chief Secretary's Department for 45 years —
through Hamlyn-Harris' and Longman's tenures — until 1947, when it was
transferred back to the Department of Public Instruction— later to become
the Department of Education.

In 1969, when Bartholomai had been director less than a year,
the Queensland Hall of Science, Industry' and Health Development
Committee, which had been working for the development of a technology
section in the museum, discovered that Queensland was the only state in
Australia without appropriate legislation for its museum (see Chapter 11).
The committee's representations received sympathic consideration from
the minister for Education, A.R. Fletcher MLA, the minister responsible
for the museum. Fletcher realised that the first board, despite its success
in re-siting the museum, had been hampered by lack of legislation to cover
its powers and administrative functions. The council of the Hall of Science,
Industry and Health Development Committee drafted museum legislation
and this was subsequently introduced, It had the approbation of all
political parties and passed through parliament smoothly. It was assented
to on 13 April 1970. In its promulgation on 20 August 1970 the governor-in-
council declared that the Queensland Museum Ad 1970 should come into
force on 1 September 1970 M .

Perhaps the most important aspects of the legislation were the
provisions for a board of trustees to control and manage the museum;
and the powers, given to the board, to open branches either alone or in
conjunction with another body. In the latter case an agreement had to be
entered into and approved by the governor-in-council 53 . Eight persons
were to constitute the board, including the director-general of Education

The Queensland Museum Board of

Trustees, 1978-84.

Back Row. D.J. Nicklin; chairman. J.C.H.

Gill; R.I. Harrison; vice-chairman, I.G.

Morris, J.M. Thomson.

Front Row: A. Bartholomai; D.M. Traves;

J.T. Maher.

294

or his nominee and the director of the museum (ex officio and non-voting).
The remaining six would be members of the public. Provision was made
for the board to administer two separate funds: a general fund for moneys
appropriated by parliament for the running of the museum and a trust
fund for moneys received from donations and bequests or generated by
activities promoted by use of funds from the trust fund source. The board
would be accountable to the minister in money matters.

The members of the 1970 board were J.C.H. Gill (lawyer and
historian, chairman), I.G. Morris (company director, vice-chairman), and
S.A. Prentice (professor of electrical engineering), each for a period of four
years; and J.M. Thomson (professor of biology), R.I. Harrison (chartered
accountant) and D.M. Traves (petroleum geologist and company director)
each for a period of two years. The nominee of the director-general of
Education was William Wood. The order-in-council was made on
17 September 1970 and gazetted two days later 53 . Subsequent changes in
the membership of the board are recorded in the annual reports of
the museum from 1971 There have been few changes — mostly they have
resulted from changes in the department under which the museum

operates. In 1978 the museum yet again was transferred to another
department — from the Education Department to the Department of
Culture, National Parks and Recreation— known since 1981 as the
Department of The Arts, National Parks and Sport.

Administratively the Queensland Museum of 1970 presented, of
course, a quite different operation from that which had confronted the first
board of trustees which took office in February 1876. For one thing the
staff establishment hardly bore comparison with that of 1876. Apart from
the director and senior curator there were ten curators, four preparators,
three art staff, one librarian, one artificer, ten assistants and cadets, four
office staff and nine attendants— a total of 44. The total vote for 1970-1971
was $175,000. The director, Alan Bartholomai, the non-voting ex officio
member of the board, was a fit young man of 31 years of age.

The director of the museum and the chairman of the new board
jointly drew up the agenda for its first meeting on 24 September 1970.
After this meeting, the chairman was asked by media representatives what
the board's first objective would be. 'A new building* was the immediate

The table in the director's office where,
from 1970, the Queensland Museum
Board of Trustees met at 11.00am on the
first Tuesday in each month.

295

response. It was a case of history repeating itself— the preoccupation of
the 1876 board had been a new building; in fact the government of the day
had directed that board to make it so. The chairman went on to say that
the board would be deeply disappointed if within 10 years a new building,
if not by then accomplished, was not on the way. Actually it was only four
years before a new building was approved.

By November 1970 the board had approved a submission by the
chairman for a new museum on a block of land at South Brisbane between
Stanley, Glenelg, Grey, and Russell Streets. It was surrounded by parkland
and had adequate off-street parking on the Grey Street side. This was
envisaged as part of an overall development which would see a new state
library in a similar setting and matching the proposed new art gallery in
the same general area. The minister, Fletcher, supported the concept but
Treasurer Gordon Chalk was of the opinion that the land acquisitions
would be too costly and a decision was deferred.

It was clear from the outset that a new building would occupy a deal
of the board's attention. Thus, in order to deal efficiently with Other
aspects of the museum's operation specialist committees were set up, eacli
chaired by a board member, to deal with finance, site and buildings, staff
planning and appointments and publications and services.

A Museum Building for the Next Half Century

The board's site and building committee co-opted Deputy Co-
ordinator General S.S. Schubert, and State Librarian S.L. Ryan in 1971
and examined other possible sites for a new museum. The vice-chairman,
I.G. Morris, convened a meeting with Premier j. Bjelke-Peterson and
Treasurer Gordon Chalk which the chairman of the board and the director
also attended. The premier agreed to fund a feasibility study to the extent
oi $6,000 to determine the type of huilding that could be accommodated on
the best of the sites examined and which would serve the museum for at
least the next half century. Architect Stephen Trotter, of the firm Fulton,
Collin, Boys, Gilmour, Trotter and Partners, was engaged as consultant
and he prepared a comprehensive planning brief for a building either in
Albert Park, or on an area in South Brisbane, or at the foot of Mt Coot-tha.
A submission was made to the government in 1973, but there was no
immediate response, The reason for this became obvious when, in October
1974, the treasurer produced a cabinet-approved scheme for a cultural
centre at South Brisbane to accommodate the art gallery, a performing
arts complex, the museum and the state library. The floor area of the new
museum was to be 11,152 square metres. The board considered this was
inadequate and representations by the chairman to the Cultural Centre
Planning and Establishment Committee, of which he had been made a
member, succeeded in having the area increased to a nominal 13,940
square metres.

These developments would have delighted Director Longman, who, in
1934, had greeted a government proposal for a new art gallery and state
library building with the hope that—

The museum eventually would be included in a comprehensive
cultural scheme for the housing of its contents^

The board experienced some disappointment as the completion
date for the building gradually receded from 1982 to 1985. However,
construction finally had started in November 1982 and the building
contract was completed in November 1985. The museum, in its
old Exhibition building on Gregory Terrace, closed to the public on

296

3 November 1985 to enable the staff to prepare for the move— to pack
and start the physical transfer of the more than two million collection
items to South Brisbane as well as the prepared displays that had been
stored at Montague Road, West End. The Department of Works, after
some hesitation, decided to oversee the move with guidance from the
museum— at an estimated cost of $0.5M to the board. In 1899 four drays,
costing 13 shillings each per day, had made 210 trips in 15 working days
to move the museum from William Street to Gregory Terrace after the
William Street building had closed to the public on 2 November. Packing
had begun on 2 October and was completed by 18 December. Eighty-six
years later, the quantity surveyor's estimate for the move from Gregory
Terrace to South Brisbane was for 700 truck loads — three to eight tonne
trucks and pantechnicons and 40 tonne low loaders, cranes and fork lifts —
to shift 3000 cubic metres of material and furniture in bubble wrap plastic
sheeting, polystyrene, wood and cotton wool, tissue paper and timber
crates, cardboard cartons, pallets and other containers, over a period of
eight months 55 .

The public's initial perception of the museum redevelopment in
the Queensland Cultural Centre will depend on the new displays and
exhibitions. Dame Margaret Weston, director of the Science Museum,
London, was appointed consultant on planning aspects of the building and
display programme. The board made representations to the government
in support of the necessary new staff appointments and equipment
(see Chapter 4). Despite staff freezes in many areas at this time these
representations were successful and government funding was forthcoming.

Museum Services for Queensland

The building, new displays and the move were priority items for the
board's attention from 1970. Nevertheless, recognition of the fact that the
museum needed to be the Queensland Museum in fact as well as in name
had led it, at an early stage, to consider ways of taking advantage of the
powers given it in the legislation in regard to the establishment of branch
museums. A decision was made that if opportunities arose to establish
branches there would be no hesitation in seizing them.

The first such opportunity arose when the National Trust of
Queensland decided it was unable to accept an offer of the Cobb and Co.
collection of horse drawn vehicles of W.R.F. Bolton. The museum
expressed its interest in the collection and subsequently the Bolton family
and the Queensland government agreed to the proposal that the collection
should form the basis of a specialised transport museum at Toowoomba on
the eastern Darling Downs— an appropriate site for a collection with rural
associations. After negotiations the Bolton collection was donated to the
museum in July 1982. The government provided storage for the collection,
which had become an urgent necessity following a fire at the Cobb & Co.
museum in Toowoomba, and it is anticipated that the Floriculture building
on the former Toowoomba showground will be converted into a suitable
building to exhibit the collection.

Another opportunity for a branch museum arose as a result of the
government's 1982 decision that all proposals for departmental museums
should be considered by the museum with a view to the development of
branches. The first proposal was one from the Forestry Department.
Following discussions, an agreement was entered into whereby the
department would provide a building at its complex just north of Gympie.
Thus, the museum, in conjunction with the Forestry Department, opened
its first branch, Woodworks, in March 1984.

297

Meanwhile, there was pressure mounting for a branch of the museum
in north Queensland and the government agreed to fund a feasibility study
on its siting. The report, prepared by consultants Gutteridge, Haskins and
Davey, became available in 1983, and it recommended Townsville as the
preferred location. That city had also been selected as the site for the
Great Barrier Reef Wonderland Project — a joint project of the state and
federal governments to celebrate the bicentennial year 1988. The board
indicated interest in participating in this project and in Townsville the
Great Barrier Reef Wonderland Association Incorporated also favoured the
idea of a branch of the museum in the Wonderland. The state government
approved the museum's application to participate. The Wonderland
association agreed that the first stage could be funded to the extent of $1M
from the joint federal/state grant of $6M while the government indicated
that funding for staff and operation would be provided. The branch
museum, built on crown land, is an integral part of the Wonderland
project. The second stage of the Branch will be undertaken in the 1990s.

An opportunity for another branch, at Coomera in south-eastern
Queensland, arose in September 1985, when the Queensland Transport and
Technology Centre Act 1984 was repealed and responsibility for this project
was vested in the museum board (see Chapter 11).

In addition to branch museums other initiatives to provide support for
Queensland-wide museum services were formulated in a plan prepared in
1978. These include the provision of advice and assistance to small local
and regional museums, a museum education extension service for schools
outside Brisbane, and a travelling exhibition programme. The last awaits
development following the move to South Brisbane. The museum's
education extension service became a fact in September 1978 when the
Education Department seconded a teacher to the museum to carry it out
(see Chapter 5).

The societies that operate local and regional museums always have
sought advice from the museum on the care and display of articles in their
collections— the state museum regarding this service as an extension of
its statutory responsibility for historically significant items. In May 1978,
responding to a suggestion made by its ornithologist, D.P. Vernon, the
museum extended its advisory role by holding its first formal workshop
for small museums. It was attended by 70 representatives of museum
societies in south-east Queensland who participated in the two-day
programme of lectures and demonstrations on every aspect of museum
operation from registration and conservation of collections to display
planning and production 56 . Lecture room and common room facilities in
the museum were stretched to the limit. Nevertheless, at the time it was

Participants in the seminar for smalt
museums held in May 1978.

298

intended to repeat the programme for museum societies from more
distant parts of the state. However, although the board could allocate trust
fund monies for the operation of the workshops, the museum was not
successful in raising funds for delegates' fares to Brisbane. As a temporary
alternative several members of the staff travelled to Cairns and held a
small workshop there. Plans for regular workshops were deferred until
the museum had moved into its new building.

The museum's capacity to help small museum's throughout the state
was given a boost by the government's decision to introduce a grants
scheme. Funds are available, not only for collection maintenance and
display projects, but also for attendance at workshops. The museum
administers the scheme. The sum disbursed was $50,000 in 1982-83 rising
to $100,000 in 1984-85. Seventy-one local historical and museum societies
throughout the state have so far benefited from the scheme.

A Measure of Success

When it was first set up in 1970 the board's capacity to contribute to
museum activities was restricted by the lack of funds in the trust account.
An initial contribution of $1,000 from the board, the proceeds of a musical
event held at the home of the chairman, was a beginning. Through careful
management the account has grown and has conferred flexibility and
expanded the range of activities available to the institution. The fund has
particularly benefited the museum's publication programme, book shop
and field programme.

As regards government funding, the down-turn of the economy in
recent years has inevitably been felt by the museum. However, the board
has successfully sought sponsorship funding from the private sector,
receiving generous support from Queensland and other enterprises such
as Castlemaine Tooheys and Kelloggs (Australia) Pty Ltd. The public in
general has also maintained a steady flow of donations in cash and in kind
and the government has granted a subsidy of dollar-for-dollar on
donations received from non-government sources to a limit of $100,000 in
any one year. An increasingly well qualified staff, measured by individual
successes in applications for grants for field work and equipment from
both government and non-government sources, has also taken some of the
pressures off the board's funds. Further appreciable income has resulted
from the museum's registration as a consultant for the provision of
environmental impact studies and has produced reports on major projects
including the Brisbane Airport redevelopment 57-9 , and the National Estate
in south-eastern Queensland 60 .

The board has achieved much of what it set out to do in 1970 and
subsequent years. Unlike its predecessor of the period 1876-1907 it has
had the advantage of a statutory base for its operations, a more affluent
economy, a well qualified and experienced museum staff, and a growing
measure of community support. Guided by an institutional corporate plan
covering all aspects of the museum's operation, the board's major policy
objectives are now defined. The most important of these are the
policies that will be developed to enhance the authority of the museum,
provide support for a range of services appropriate to the institution's
resources and role, and ensure the most effective and efficient use of
public funds. The various ministers of government charged with the
responsibility for the museum have been receptive to representations
from the board. The result has been a resurgence in the growth of the
museum and the improvement of its services to the general public both
in Brisbane and throughout the state.

299

IN
PERPETUITY

The Museum's

Continuing

Role

From the days of King Solomon history has recorded great
collections of objects— strange and unfamiliar as well as
familiar ones, beautiful and useful objects, objects made by man
and those of the natural world such as animals, plants, rocks
and precious stones. These collections have reflected the taste,
the wealth and power, or the skill and knowledge of those who have made
them; and they have conveyed information to the studious and have
stimulated the imagination of the idly curious. In all those periods of man's
history marked by rapid advances in understanding there have been
collections 1 . Philip of Macedonia and Alexander the Great had collections
that Aristotle used for his researches, as the great Swedish naturalist,
Linnaeus, used the collections of the Kings and Queens of Sweden in
the 18th century 1 . Throughout the scientific revolution that followed the
Renaissance in Western Europe, as ships sailed to new continents and
as new instruments such as microscopes and telescopes revealed new
structures and new dimensions, men turned to the study of collections
of objects in order to satisfy their curiosity and to understand.

Great private collections were made by individuals and societies
and these grew into museums accessible to others 1 - 2 . The Royal Society
established its museum in London in 1681, and two years later the
Ashmolean was founded by private bequest in Oxford University 1 . Then,
in his will of 1753, Sir Hans Sloane, a London physician, offered his
collection of nearly 80,000 objects to George II for the nation. The nation
responded, the collection being purchased for £80,000, the sum raised by
a lottery 3 . This was the collection that became the British Museum. The
Prince of Wales had said of it 'how much it must conduce to the benefit of
learning' 3 . It was probably with that end in view that one of the principles
from which Sloane's trustees could not 'in honor or conscience depart*
was —

that the collection be kept for the use and benefit of the publick, who
may have free access to view and peruse the same 3 .

Previous page: The Aboriginal Life
diorama, created by Anthony Alder in
1914 and visited by generations of
Queenslanders since then.

Thus, the British Museum was—

the first public museum of any size which had the temerity to aim

at universality, belonged to the nation and, at least in theory, granted
admission to all studious and curious persons 3 .

It was the first time that a museum's collections had been so
readily accessible to the people and this policy profoundly affected the
development of museums in the future.

When Queensland became a separate colony in 1859 the British
Museum had been open to the public for just 100 years, for it was on
15 January 1759 that it had 'opened its doors to those "studious and
curious persons" it was directed by act of parliament to admit' 3 . In the
British Museum there were the objects and artefacts that were evidence of
history as well as all manner of large and small animals and the remains of
prehistoric ones. Although Sir Horace Walpole had made the caustic
observation that 'Sir Hans Sloane valued his museum at four score
thousand (pounds), and so would any body who loves hippopotamuses,
sharks with one ear, and spiders as big as geese' 3 , clearly there were many
who did not agree with him— nor, indeed, was his comment either fair or
accurate. From the time the museum opened there was a clamour for
admission 4 . It was said to be—

a palace full of all good things, the wonders of nature; and things

of great value, both by reason of their being singular, there being no

302

other like them, by reason of the costliness and beauty, or by artists,
whose fame has gone forth through the world. There are they
deposited and there are they to be met with in thousands and ten
thousands, where they will be for ever a sign and wonder and
spacious rooms full of books, both modern and ancient, printed and
manuscripts, in innumerable languages the like was not seen, in all
the earth since the foundation thereof, till now that the men of
government expended abundance of money to purchase them, and to
gather them within the great treasury, that it might be for the good
of mankind, both the stranger, and for him that is born in the
land 5 .

The British Museum afforded the nation a rich and tangible heritage
and an archive of information wherein mysteries could be investigated
and solved. This was the model that the settlers had known before they
migrated to Australia. Far away in the colonies many immigrants were
aware of the sense of identity, of continuity and of the knowledge of the
new land that could be derived from a museum.

In 1845, just 17 years before the Queensland Philosophical Society had
opened its museum, a group of like-minded men across the Pacific sought
to persuade the American Congress that the establishment of a museum
would fulfil the terms of James Smithson's bequest. Smithson was an
Englishman, the illegitimate son of the Duke of Northumberland and man
of the Enlightenment. His bequest to the United States of America was for
'an establishment for the increase and diffusion of Knowledge among
men' 6 . In 1846 the ten year debate on what to do with the bequest
concluded with legislation for, amongst other things, a museum, a study
collection and a library in the Smithsonian Institution to be founded in
Washington. It was not long before those who had interpreted Smithson's
words in this way were vindicated. The institution flourished, executing
the terms of the bequest right from the beginning when the research role
of a museum was formalised by the pronouncement that 'the increase of
knowledge by original research' was one of its essential functions 6 . It was
to become, in due course, the great complex of U.S. national museums.
In the early 1890s, one of the few men to have made a penetrating study

The museum collects, preserves and
studies the material evidence of history
and diversity (drawing reproduced with
the permission of the artist, Clifford J.
Morrow Jr, Carnegie Museum of Natural
History, U.S.A., from Banks, R.C., ed.,
1979, Museums Studies and Widlife
Management Smithsonian Institution,
Washington D.C.)-

303

of museums — George Brown Goode — had become director of the
Smithsonian's first U.S. National Museum. He declared that the museum
of the future must be 'a nursery of living thought and not a cemetery of
"bric-a-brac"' 6 ; and, while 'recognizing that a museum could be a powerful
tool of scholarly research', he drew attention to its educational potential —
'he was alert to the new democratic age and sought to tap "the
possibilities of public enlightenment" implicit in his museum' 6 . In other
words, the role of a museum in diffusing knowledge was being explored
and developed.

At about the same time, there was also a growing recognition of their
educational role in the older museums in England. As the industrial
revolution progressed and scientific discoveries accelerated, people had
begun to look to the museums for explanations— to understand the new
science and technology that were changing their lives and their concepts
of the universe so profoundly. Now almost universally state-supported,
the magnitude of their operation being beyond the capacity of even the
wealthiest individuals, the museums responded and they began to
promote their education programmes to justify their increasing cost to
the community 7 .

Thus did museums evolve in response to the needs of communities in
the Age of Enlightment. Their three functions— to hold safely collections
of objects, to increase knowledge, and to educate and entertain the
people— who shall have free access to them — are now embodied in the
definition of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) —

A museum is a non-profit making, permanent institution, in the
services of society and of its development, and open to the public,
which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits
for the purposes of study, education and enjoyment, material
evidence of man and his environment 8 .

In 1975 the Australian Committee of Inquiry on Museums and
National Collections adopted the ICOM definition and explained it in
the following words:

A nation gains in a variety of ways from the efficient preservation of
objects in museums The collections are the heart of a museum.

A museum cannot live without scholarship any museum worth the

name is engaged in the difficult search for new knowledge ... without
scholarship to guide every stage from collecting to indexing, the
museum collections could not have served as the foundations for the
enormous platform of knowledge they now support.

As places of education museums have unusual advantages they

are capable of instructing and entertaining people from every

educational group and age group in the same gallery Secondly

their collections of objects stimulate a sense of wonder and instil

an understanding which makes the same message (communicated by

other means) seem remote and second hand (and) a museum can

often dispense with those layers of interpretation which

separate an object or evidence from the audience 8 .

The Australian committee then proceeded to report on the restraints
operating in Australian museums that prejudice their ability to fulfil
their roles adequately 8 . In many cases conditions did not appear to have
improved very much from those that existed in 1907 when Premier
Kidston had assumed control of the Queensland Museum. Clearly puzzled
as to the museum's function, Kidston had asked Robert Etheridge to
report on the role of a museum; whether the Queensland Museum was
fulfilling that role; and if not, why not— what was needed to enable it to

304

do so. Etheridge had replied in the wordy from George Brown Goode's
Principles of Museum Administ ration:

1 A museum is an institution for the preservation of those objects
which best illustrate the phenomena of nature and the works of
man and the utilization of them for the increase of knowledge and
for the culture and enlightenment of the people.

2 The Public museum is a necessity in every highly civilized
community.

3 The Community should provide adequate means for the support
of the museum,

4 A museum cannot be established and creditably maintained
without adequate provision in five directions:

A A stable organisation and adequate means of support

B A definite plan, wisely framed in accordance with the
opportunities of the institution and the needs of the
community for whose benefit it is to be maintained.

C Material to work upon — good collections or facilities for

creating them.
1) Men to do the work — a staff of competent curators.
E A place to work in — a suitable building.

F Appliances to work with — proper accessories, installation
materials, tools and mechanical assistance.

5 A finished museum is a dead museum and a dead museum is a
useless resource 9 .

Kidston used these recommendations as the basis of the reforms he
sponsored in the museum 75 years ago, but it has taken a long time to
realise the basic, needs that Goode had defined. Only in 1986, for the
first time in its history, and through a lineage of influences that can be
traced to the great museum institutions of Britain and America, has the
Queensland Museum had adequate accommodation and fine equipment in
all its departments. It has a stable organisation, it is mature and confident,
it has the support of a community which is increasingly using it services,
and it has the support of the government. The Queensland parliament, in
enacting the Queensland Museum Ad 1970-1985, has acknowledged the
museum's role. The Act recognises that the museum board holds the
official collections of the state, and confers statutory protection on them
for people and for scholarship. There has been a world-wide resurgence of
interest in museums, for today, as never before, there is a concern for the
natural environment and man's place in it; and a searching for expressions
of national and individual identity. The Queensland Museum has its place
in this world movement.

To ensure the institution's continuing ability to fulfil its role and its
responsibilities under the Act, as well as satisfying the community's needs
and earning its increasing support, the board has embodied the three
functions of a museum in its major policy objectives;

to maintain the existing collections in such manner as to ensure their
preservation in perpetuity, extend the systematic coverage of the
Museum's collections by positive action to document the State's
history and resources and ensure that storage systems and access to
relevant information meet all existing and projected usages;

to ensure that the materials conservation programme of the Museum
is fully supported and directed to identify and repair the existing
damage or deterioration in the collections, monitor and advise on
storage and display conditions which will safeguard the collections
and provide the necessary research into particular problems;

305

to plan programmes of research which make realistic and economic
use of the Museum's available expertize and facilities, towards the
maintenance of a major source of authoritative knowledge in the
State, available to all;

to prepare regularly changing exhibitions for the public which are
object based but which incorporate the most appropriate techniques
and display technology, supporting these with a temporary exhibition
programme and other facilities which ensure full public satisfaction
with the Museum and, at the same, provide travelling exhibitions to
other parts of the State;

to communicate knowledge to the public generally and to develop an
interest within the community in the Museum's fields of interest,
using the full range of techniques and approaches available, ensuring
that the Museum's educational activities are integrated with the
requirements of the State Education Department and other
organisations 10 .

Thus stated, the objectives of the museum are dynamic ones, flexible
enough to accommodate the rapid change that is symptomatic of today's
world— change in the needs and expectations of communities, change in
social customs and values, and change in work patterns and leisure habits,
as well as new technologies and an ever expanding body of knowledge.

The museum will record these changes and is ready to respond to
them. It will preserve, in perpetuity, the authentic objects— the evidence
of history that represent the truth— and, basing its studies on those
objects, will contribute to the increase of knowledge and communicate it to
the people. New materials and new techniques and philosophies of display

In 1985 the museum was looking forward
to its move to South Brisbane.

306

and design are making it possible for museums to communicate
information more readily than ever before— to entertain while they
inform. In other words, to be more and more attractive and to be enjoyed.
Thus the members of the community can aspire to understand and
participate in decisions that affect them, and that will affect their children
and their childrens' children in the future 11 .

and

307

rr-. — ■

*i'^

s ^V

• Sfc»

'^ \

t»-\

w^.-^

F *; *t - ■ . 35$ m
7 • is^ -4fc~™

■

...■ . ! '■■'■.'■

•

■*%-

Mi l

■ :■■ ■■■■: ■

I ... - 1 ■-■*W l ->

j^Htftti

.-"-•%

:■.. -:. ■

a JW tK/KKT IpK

■ : .:V'..' :

■ : / £■'<' - ;

IP :

TO'

.■*■..:■<• - 1

9, > -

£# * : v^V^

jfl

El /'

•

• • : ;

Appendix 1

Previous page: From Longman's garden
on the Brisbane River at Chelmer. Here
he spent the last 14 years of his life,
writing his natural history articles,
tending his garden and cultivating its
wildlife.

Charles Coxen

Coxen was one of those responsible for the interest that the early
settlers took in natural history. He was one of the founders of the
Philosophical Society, the principal founder of its museum and the man
primarily responsible for persuading the Queensland government to take
over the responsibility for the museum.

His interest in science and particularly in natural history may have
been partly due to the influence of his sister Elizabeth's husband, the
distinguished ornithologist, John Gould, who was curator of the Zoological
Society, London. Coxen arrived in Australia in 1833 with a commission
from the society to collect local fauna 12 . Some of the first Australian birds
Gould described before he visited Australia himself, in 1839, had been sent
to him by Charles and his brother, Stephen Coxen. In 1839 the Goulds
stayed for three months with Charles and Stephen at the latter s property,
Yarrundi, on the Hunter River near Scone 3 . In 1851 Coxen was still
collecting birds for his brother-in-law for the supplement to Goulds great
work Birds of Australia*.

Charles Coxen came to Queensland, from Tamworth NSW in 1841,
when he formed the third party to take sheep overland from the Hunter
River to the Darling Downs 5 . He appears to have lived at Jondaryan
Station near Dalby, although it was then registered in the name of Henry
Dennis and was transferred to Coxen's name only in 185 L His other
properties were Myall Creek (1841-4), Karugu (1846-7), Bimbian (1851)
and Daandine (1855-61) 6 . In 1851, at Ryde NSW, he married Miss
Elizabeth Isaac of Gloucestershire and took her to 'what were then the
boundaries of civilisation, Bimbian, the furthermost station on the Darling
Downs' 5 . They later moved to Daandine, again near Dalby 5 .

Coxen was by no means isolated on the Darling Downs and there
were others with whom he came into contact who shared and undoubtedly
stimulated his interest in natural history. Possibly one of the most
distinguished was explorer Leichhardt— who was 'interested in Nature
as a whole, from the rocks on which we stand, to what we have made of
ourselves in our environment' 7 . Leichhardt came to the Downs twice in
1844. The first time when he journeyed there from Newcastle and, on
30 March, collected fossil bones from Charles Coxen's property. Then, in
October 1844 Leichhardt's party, including John Gilbert, collector for John
Gould, set out from the Darling Downs on a 3000 mile journey that took
them to Port Essendon, during which Gilbert was killed 8 . In 1846
Leichhardt was again on the Darling Downs preparing for his aborted
east-west crossing; and yet again in 1848— departing on the ill-fated
expedition that did not return. Leichhardt named a plant Myal coxeni
after Coxen.

When Queensland became a separate colony there was a nucleus of
people in Brisbane who shared Coxen's interest in natural history and who
helped him found the Queensland Philosophical Society 9 . As chairman of
the society, in 1861-2, he was instrumental in persuading the government
to allocate accommodation in the Windmill for the museum. From
December 1862, when the society first elected office-bearers, he was the
first vice-president— the governor, Sir George Bowen being president 9 .
In September 1871 it was Coxen who was delegated to discuss, with the
minister, the geological collections that the society held in trust pending
the setting up of a public museum. As a result of those discussions Coxen
was made honorary curator of a museum that included the government's
geological museum that C. D'Oyly Aplin, the former government geologist,

310

had set up in the Parliamentary building 3 as well as the Philosophical
Society's museum founded in the Windmill and now relocated id the
Parliamentary building (see Chapters 2, 4). Coxen was now honorary-
curator of the Queensland Museum and he persistently urged the
government to provide a building for it ll) . Coxen continued as honorary
curator until he had persuaded the government to set up a board of
trustees in 1876 (see Chapter 14).

Coxen represented the district of Northern Downs in the Queensland
parliament and was subsequently chairman of committees (1863-67). He
was also a vnce-president and honorary secretary to the Acclimatisation
Society (1862-73) r '. However, his pastoral ventures did not prosper and he
failed financially in 1850 and again in 18(56, In 1867 he went to the Gympie
Goldfields. 'On March, 1868. he began his career in connection with the
Crown Lands Office, where his strict integrity and unremitting desire to
assist and further the interests of settlers won for him the respect and
esteem of all with whom, in his official capacity, he was brought in
contact' I lie subsequently held the posts of Crown Lands commissioner,
Moreton Bay, then East Moreton (1870-75); inspecting commissioner
Settled Districts (1872); acting Crown Land commissioner, Darling Downs
(1874-75); member of the Commission of Inquiry into condition of
Aboriginals in Queensland (1874) s . Coxen 'was known for his sympathetic
and trusting treatment' of the Aborigines when he had been on the Downs
and his 'understanding and compassion' for them is reflected in his paper
to the Philosophical Society on 'The Komillaroy Tribe'.

Charles Coxen 'found time to pursue his favourite study of natural
history, as well as to promote a knowledge of other branches of science
beneficial to the colony' 5 '. He contributed papers to meetings of the
Philosophical Society on a range of subjects. He supplied John Gould with
a wealth of reliable information and specimens, including observations on
the behaviour of the Bower Bird which he made at Stephen's property,
Yurrundr- He had a wide interest in developing technology and sent Gould
a photograph of the Little Egret-. Coxen wrote a section on dugong in
Gould's Mammals of Australia and a long and authoritative article entitled
'The Yellow-winged Satin Bird' in the Sydney Mail and New South Wales
Advertiser of 4 April 1874 He was a corresponding member of the
Zoological Society.

We can be grateful to him for his untiring work for the Queensland
Museum and for those collections of fossils, birds and shells he made
with his wife Elizabeth, and which became the nucleus of the museum.
However, one of his greatest achievements may have been the style of
his leadership of a group of men who believed in and worked fur the
establishment of the museum— who, by 1871 had persuaded the
government to assume responsibility for it so that by 1875 a staff and a
board of trustees had been appointed and funds for a building wei
committed. As Mack remarked 'from the records available the impression
is gained that at no time had the authorities been difficult in this matter;
indeed they had been consistently helpful' 11 . This may be a measure of the
quality of the man, Charles Coxen.

Karl Theodor Staiger

Staiger was the first professional appointment to the museum. On
19 November 1872 lie was appointed government analytical chemist and
custodian. Staiger applied himself conscientiously to his dual role
Although his responsibilities for mineral assays were probably more

311

pressing at I he time, he did not ignore the natural history and accepted
the universal nature of the museum's responsibilities.

Staiger was born in 1833 at Kun^elsaw, Wurtemburg. Germany, the
son of Professor John James Staler and Caroline Koch. He attended the
polytechmcal school in Stuttgart, and spent 3 years studying chemistry 1:: .

He came to Australia and worked on various mining fields, In July
1812 he was in Stanthorpe, then the centre of the mining in Queensland,
when he applied for the job with the government as analytical chemist and
custodian of the museum at an annual salary of £200, soon rising to £350.

He took up duties in January 1873. In his first reports to the minister,
W.H. Walsh, on 2 June 1873 he indicated that in spite of lack of adequate
facilities he had undertaken 64 assays, and 'I have been moreover ly daily
visited since the office has been established by a number of strangers
making voluminous inquiries on various topics of Mineralogy, Chemistry,
Manufactures etc all of which 1 have endeavoured to answer to the best of
my judgement' I:) . He had secured one of the largest rooms in the old Post
Office and arranged the named minerals according to the district found,
Lack of a scientific library prevented work on the small zoological
collection and he urged that this be remedied (see Chapter 13).
Optimistically, he commented that he was waiting 'till decisive steps are
en as regards the new museum' 11 He waited in vain.

The board of trustees was formed in 1876 and Staiger became its
secretary. He kept meticulous and detailed minutes that reveal much of
the museum s early operations. The minutes of the meeting of March 1976
relate that Staiger was doing the work of a curator in all but name and the
trustees suggested that he should become the curator. However, the title
was not given to him — it was kept for his successor. William Haswell, who
took over responsibility for the museum from Staiger at the end of 1879.

Meanwhile, Staiger was attending to a range of activities in the
museum. He was a commissioner for the Queensland government
organising displays for the Vienna, London and Sydney Exhibitions in
1873, and in 1877 he selected items for prize winning displays in Sydney.
He was working with F.M. Bailey, the keeper of the herbarium in the
museum, on a monograph of Queensland grasses 14 .

In March 1878 the trustees acknowledged their regard for Staiger by
asking the minister for Mines to place a sum of £100 on the estimates 'as
special remuneration' for his services as chemist and museum custodian
up to 31 December 1878; and in August 1878 they appointed a temporary
secretary to relieve him of his secretarial duties to the board. He
continued as custodian until Haswell's appointment in November 1879.
Staiger's good relationship with at least one of the trustees is reflected
in the fact that he named his son 'MiskirV after trustee W.H- Miskin.
Eventually, toward the end of 1879, he fell out with Miskin when the
board appointed Haswell rather than Staiger as curator (see Chapter 3).
However, Dr Bancroft, another of the trustees, was to be his physician
until his death 15 .

After he left the museum, Staiger is listed as analytical chemist in the
government chemical laboratory until June 1880 lft and it was during this
period that he made one further contribution to international science.
In May 1880 the celebrated Russian zoologist, humanitarian and
anthropologist Nicolai Miklouho-Maclay came to Brisbane from New
Guinea, and stayed with A.C. Gregory, then chairman of the museum
board of trustees !7 . While in Brisbane, Miklouho-Maclay, an articulate
opponent of the labour-trade and other racist policies and practices,

312

availed himself of an opportunity to further his own investigations on
racial characteristics by taking measurements of the cranium and brain of
executed criminals— a Malay, a Chinese, a Melanesian and an Aborigine.
The Queensland government made laboratory accommodation available in
the building just vacated by the museum— the old Post office building;
supplied the services of its analytical chemist— Staiger— to assist in the
investigations; and lent photographic equipment from the Survey Office.
It is probable that Staiger's assistance was relevant to the development of
the new preserving fluids that Maclay tested and used at this time 1748 .

Staiger's involvement with Miklouho-Maclay ended in August 1880
and he appears to have left the government service. He advertised as
analytical chemist from his home 'Staigersleigh' in Edmonstone Street,
South Brisbane, both before and after an appointment to the Municipality
of Brisbane as public analyst under the Food and Drugs Act®. Through
these years he continued to donate specimens to the museum 20 .

In 1874 he had married Henrietta Pearce the 20 year old daughter
of an English gentleman 21 . They had two sons, Rudolph Edward and
Augustus William Miskin 15 .

The museum's first staff member died at the age of 55 at his home on
5 October 1888 after a two year battle with tuberculosis. In a brief obituary
the Brisbane Courier stated that 'Mr Karl Theodor Staiger who formerly
occupied the position of analyst to the Queensland Government, died
yesterday morning at his residence Staigersleigh, Edmonstone Street
South Brisbane' 22 . The article reflects the view of the time that Karl
Staiger's work as an analyst of mineral specimens was more important
than his work in the museum. Today's judgment might be different.

Charles Walter de Vis

de Vis was born in Birmingham, England, to James and Mary Devis
on 9 May 1829 23 . He was a distinguished scholar— an exhibitioner of Kings
College, London, and a scholar of Magdalen College, Cambridge where
he took his BA in 1849. He became a deacon in 1852 and was rector of
St John's, Breane, in Somerset in 1855. He eventually gave up the church
for 'his beloved science' 24 becoming one of the hereditary governors of
Manchester Natural History Society, at Salford, Manchester in 1862 and
was later curator at the Queens Park Museum. In fact de Vis had had
considerable experience both in developing and displaying collections
before he came to Australia. During this period of his life he became vice-
president of the (British) Anthropological Society and was a fellow of the
Zoological Society 25 .

He came to Queensland in June 1870 with the aim of studying its
natural resources, especially geology and mineralogy, and of making his
living by sending specimens to overseas museums. In November 1870
he arrived in Rockhampton and, with his son George, was collecting
around Black Gin Creek, Clermont and Rockhampton. However, it was
disappointing that the first lot of specimens he sent back to Europe
were lost at sea. After a trip back to England for a visit he returned to
Rockhampton where he became librarian at the School of Arts. From
1880 until February 1882, when he became curator of the Queensland
Museum, he had been writing articles on geology and ornithology for the
Queenslander under the pen-name of Thickthorn'— the name of his house
in Rockhampton 24 . de Vis was 53 when he became curator. Nevertheless
he tackled his job with an energy and enthusiasm that never seemed to
flag— he drove his staff but, indeed, he also drove himself— arranging
displays, dealing with correspondence, monthly reports to the board,

313

. i

writing papers arid identifying the specimens that found their way into the
museum. Mostly he worked on mammals, reptiles, birds and fishes'.
However, he also worked on other groups and anthropology. The museum
still has a lengthy key he compiled to assist with the identification of
spiders. The insects he probably left to the entomologist Tryon. de Vis
was forced to retire from the position of curator on 31 March 1905
(see Chapter 3) at the age of 76. However, he remained on the staff as
consulting scientist until 1912.

He certainly had had the confidence of the museum board of trustees
which had tried very hard to avoid his retirement. In the end the
government had ordered it. He also seems to have had the respect of his
staff, especially the collectors, Broadbent, Wild and Hurst, who spent long
periods in the field, collecting prodigious amounts of material and formally
and regularly reporting back to de Vis 26 . However, he did not get on well
with his assistant curator Henry 7 Tryon and at a board meeting on
7 December 1888 he said that he found Tryon 'insubordinate'.
Nevertheless Tryon eventually wrote de Vis' biography w . Certainly later
on, after Tryon had left the museum, the lives of the two men must have
crossed very often. It is probable that they had a mutual respect for one
another's achievements.

As well as his work in rhe museum, de Vis took his part as a scientist
in the community. He joined many of the budding societies, was a founder
member and president (1888-9) ol the Royal Society of Queensland; he
was elected corresponding member of the Linnean Society of New South
Wales in 1882; he helped in the organisation of the International
Exhibition at Melbourne in 1888 and the Indian and Colonial Exhibition
in London in 1886 and in the Australian Association for the Advancement
o) Science meetings at Sydney (first vice-president 1888) and Adelaide
(president Biology section 1893). He was a member of the Vernacular
Names for Australian Birds Committee, and on a committee to promote
scientific exploration of the Great Barrier Reef. Other societies to which
he belonged include the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia—
Queensland Branch (hon. member 19(30), vice-president of the Australian
Ornithologists' Union (1910) and the British Ornithologists' Union. He
was an 'indefatigable writer' and from 1865 to his death he published
130 scientific papers and articles- 7 . Apart from his numerous
contributions to palaeontology and natural history he spent much time
building up a comparative vocabulary of Aboriginal language.

While in Rockhampton, he appears to have used the name Devis, but
changed it to De Vis or de Vis when he came to the museum, de Vis is the
spelling most often used 2 *. The name appears to have been Norman, his
parents using an anglicised version, while Charles Walter preferred the
earlier style, possibly taking a quiet pride in the fact that his family can
be traced through 700 years of English history*'. A De Vis was one of the
25 barons who witnessed King Johns signing of tht Magna Charta at
Runnymede on 15 June 1215. Later King Charles II presented, to the
De Vis of his day, a silver salver inscribed 'to Harry De Vis, the friend
and servant of King Charles II, by his King'- 7 . It was a daughter of that
same Sir Harry to whom Samuel Pepys referred in his diary:

To Whitehall, where the ball was to be crammed with fine ladies, the

greatest of the Court By-and-by comes the King and Queene,

the Duke and Duchess, and all the great ones Of the ladies that

danced, the Duke of Monmouth's mistress and my lady Castlemaine
and a daughter of Sir Harry de Vis were the bestX

314

Charles Walter's great-grandfather was the last Devis of Thickthorne
estate in Warwickshire where the family had lived for 400 years.
Thickthorn was the name Charles Walter de Vis chose for his house in
Rockhampton and for his pen-name 29 .

de Vis had been married before he came to Australia. His wife, Julia
nee Holmes, and three sons— Edwin, Charles and Harry — stayed in
England and completed their education, Charles and Harold becoming
doctors. Edwin subsequently went to South Africa. Charles came to
Charters Towers in 1881 where he practised medicine. Another two sons,
George and Walter, who came to Australia with their father, never did
complete their education. Walter is not heard of again. George became a
merchant in Rockhampton but appears to have lost contact with his father
after de Vis returned to England in the early 1870s 24 . In 1898, in New
Zealand, de Vis is said to have married a widow, Katherine Elizabeth
Luckie 23 - 2 *. The board minutes of 27 August 1898 record that he was
granted leave for '3 to 4 weeks'. There was no board meeting in January
1899 and he probably went to New Zealand during that December- January.

de Vis was living at Gaythorn House. Enoggera, when he died on
30 April 1915 at the age of 86, having devoted 30 years to the service of
science and the Queensland Museum. He is buried in the Church of
England section of the Toowong Cemetery, de Vis' great grand-children
by his sons Charles and George now live in Queensland and
Western Australia.

Kendall Broadbent

Broadbent was the doyen of the Queensland Museum's collectors at a
time when natural history collectors were sought after and collecting was a
rigorous and exacting occupation, requiring skill, ingenuity and tenacity.
Comparatively short of stature, he was very hard working, a thorough field
naturalist and a 'most discerning zoological collector' 30 . Despite privations
he loved the wilderness areas where he worked assiduously in seeking
natural history specimens. He was not well educated, but through his
observations in the field and from the literature that was available he
developed a particular knowledge of Australian birds and their movements
and, assisted by Henry Tryon, a good deal of his ornithological knowledge
was published during his life. He collected fossils extensively during many
trips to different parts of the Darling Downs, but he also collected
mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, molluscs, crustaceans, insects and
other invertebrates and anthropological material.

He was born at Horsforth, near Leeds in Yorkshire on 26 August
1837. His father was a stone mason and his mother before marriage
was Elizabeth Bentley. With his parents he arrived in Victoria in 1852 and
was engaged in contracting work with his father. After a while, he began
to collect zoological specimens. In December 1858 he collected the type
specimen of the Rufous Bristlebird and it was named after him —
Dasyornis broadbenti 2 . The personal achievment of having discovered a
new species of Australian bird must have stimulated the young man for it
was the beginning of a lifetime of natural history collecting that included
the finding of many new species. He collected in every Australian state
except the Northern Territory, but mainly in eastern Australia, and he
participated in two expeditions to New Guinea. However, the great part of
his work was done in Queensland between 1880 and 1900 while collecting
for the museum.

He was en route to New Guinea as a collector in 1872 when he was
one of the survivors from the wreck of the Maria which grounded on

315

a reef off Cardwell. Aboard were 64 gold prospectors, an engineer —
Lawrence Hargrave, Broadbent and a crew, making a total complement of
75 men. The ship sank and two of the ship's boats took 28 men including
Broadbent to the mainland. Less than half of those aboard survived, the
remainder drowned or were killed by Aborigines 31 . Later Broadbent met
Hargrave and taught him to make study skins— a skill that the latter
subsequently put to good use when he collected in New Guinea 32 .

In 1873 he was engaged to collect for Count de Castenau in Cape York
and around the Gulf of Carpentaria. However, while there he also collected
for himself and in 1876 sold, for £18.17.0, 79 bird specimens from that
region to the National Museum of Victoria. In 1875 Broadbent was
engaged with others to collect around Port Moresby for specimens that
were later sent to the British Museum. It was on this trip that he
contracted malaria which recurred at intervals during the remainder of
his life. E.P. Ramsay of the Australian Museum employed him to collect
specimens for that museum from 1877 to 1879. During 1879 there were
686 bird skins or eggs registered as having been collected by Broadbent
in Tasmania and in addition he made collections in South and Western
Australia. Ramsay's other contracts* with, and purchases from Broadbent
had yielded 258 specimens from Port Moresby and 387 specimens from
north Queensland between 1876 and 1878 and a collection of birds
from the Darling Downs in 1881

Broadbent s first contact with the Queensland Museum occurred in
1880 when W. Haswell was director. On 28 May 1880 the board minutes
record that collector Broadbent was in the Enoggera area and had
sold mammals and birds to the museum. Haswell further proposed an
arrangement with Broadbent whereby, in return for his steamer passage-
money and £12 a month he would give the museum his entire collections.
Trustee Miskin thought 'the arrangement would prove a very
advantageous one for the museum'— and so it was to be. For several
months thereafter consignments of specimens from 'collector Broadbent'
were reported. On 20 August 1880 Haswell reports '214 bird skins, many
of then rare, besides mammals, fishes etc. from Collector Broadbent at
Cardwell', on 20 September 'another consignment'. On 8 April 1881
Broadbent consigned a supply of formalin, a bundle of cotton and a jar
of arsenical soap to the museum by steamer, probably indicating that
his contract with it had ended.

He used various methods for collecting his specimens. His Hollis
double-barrel shot-gun is now in the technological collection. He was
using traps when he obtained the carnivorous marsupial known to the
north Queensland Aborigines as the Tarrie', as he related to de Vis on
8 February 1889 —

I have the honour to report. Caught the Yarrie at last, just a common
tiger cat, after all the trouble. Caught it in a gully in the mountains
6 miles out of Cardwell. had 7 traps (s)et the last fortnight, got some
fine lizards caught in the traps.

He also used snares for wallabies. Nets, and apparently on occasion,
dynamite was used for procuring fish specimens. For instance Broadbent
in a letter to de Vis which he wrote at 'Somerset', Cape York on
14 February 1884:

I could not get dynamite at Thursday Island, would you please send
me some whay. I shall want it more on the reefs than I do here.

Early collectors including Broadbent used many methods to transport
material back to the museums. They used pack-horses, wagons and carts,

316

especially for short distances. Ships were used as a means of transport for
Broadbent to places in the north such as Port Douglas, Thursday Island,
Karumba, and New Guinea. He used the Queensland railways where
possible, as for example in the Stanthorpe district in December 1884 to
January 1885 and, while collecting in the Charleville area later in 1885,
boxes of specimens were railed back to Brisbane. Unfortunately,
sometimes boxes were lost in transit; for example, Broadbent in a letter to
de Vis from Cardwell of 8 February 1889 wrote:

The missing box not come yet, it must have lost the address.

Those tickets come off without being nailed. Hope you received the
last consignment in good order, 5 boxes, altogether, Steamer Palmer
shipped them 26th Jan 89.

On 26 April 1893 the intrepid collector, showing a little pride, wrote
to de Vis from the Darling Downs:

I got a pretty good find this month, head and splendid lower jaws of
Dipro(to)don. about 9 miles up Kings Creek from Clifton, had to
engage a man and spring cart to fetch it home, could not get the cart
within a half mile of it, and the fossil across the creek, had it to carry
in a box and the(n) wade the creek with it, a bad time of it we had.

During the course of the fieldwork there were periods when the
collector employed Aborigines to assist him to procure specimens,
especially mammals. For example he paid an Aborigine 15 shillings per
week to help him in the mountains behind Cardwell to collect specimens
of Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroo, Dendrolagus lumholtzi, known to the natives
as 'boongarry'. Broadbent wrote in his diary for 25 September 1886 The
natives said it was impossible to carry anything up where Boongarry lives.
Pitched camp again and started with 3 natives up to Boongarry ground*.
Again, in October 1887, he wrote from Springsure:

I have got the specimens (Petrogale penicillata) of the wallaby you
require. It is nearly impossible to get them without Blacks. We
hunted them in true blackfellow fasion. They inhabit small stoney
Volcanic mountains covered with scrub. They clime trees. I shot one

on top of a fig tree There are no Blacks camped near the Station I

engaged four from spring Creek.

Although he used their skills to help him collect specimens he was
fully aware of the dangers he faced in the bush alone for Aborigines were
not always kindly disposed to white men. Tough and resolute, Broadbent
wrote in his diary for 2 January 1886, 'I shall get to Dalrymple Gap niggers
or no niggers'. He was worried about the possibility of their attacking him
for, on 23 January 1886, he notes in the diary that he —

Shifted camp a few miles down the Gap nothing to get here, not a
safe place for a man to camp by himself.

Two days later he wrote:

A good job for me I did clear out of the top of the Gap a mob of
Blacks came there Sunday to kill me for flour tobacco etc. about 40 of
their Hinchinbrook blacks.

It was not a new experience — on 29 July 1882 Broadbent had written to de
Vis:

Blacks are bad. I want a revolver and 100 cartridges, not safe
anywhere now out of Cardwell.

Broadbent paid in trade for specimens that the Aborigines brought in
to him. From 'Somerset' in 1884 he informed de Vis 'I shall require trade
amongst the natives, get nothing from them without paying for it'.

Broadbent faced many other difficulties and privations, often alone,

"mJkA

317

- J

during his long periods in the field. In a letter from Cardwell on 27
January 1889 he wrote:

J have spent a good deal of time after it (yarrie or tiger cat) and

gone over some rough country! in fact, I have walked nearly all the
flesh off my bones, what with scrambling over stones in rough
gullies, through scrubs, and over mountains, there is not much of me
left

In another letter of 22 October 1890 from Gowrie on the Darling Downs he

wrote:

I beg permission to come down for a short spell. I require a new tent,
mine torn all to pieces with the great winds here.

Prior to this, in the same year on the 13 March 1890 he had said;

Last monday we had a sort of Cyclone, with torrents of rain. The

Condamme River is within 15 feet of the bank where I am camped.
and still rising. We have here also a plauge of mosquitoes and
sandflies.*...

A couple of weeks later on the same theme he wrote to de Vis about the
Condamine River flood and particularly the mosquitoes * ...gets under the
blankets, up the legs of your trowsers. bites night and day. 1 have to eat,
sleep and work in smoke'. When Broadbent was collecting in the
mountains behind Cardwell, in July 1886, he recorded in his diary that—

travelling is a terror in this country, the grass in the open places in
the mountain is 6 feet high broad blady grass cuts like a knife, all
the mountain creeks are nearly a swirn and then to clime those

mountains great masses of of lawyer palm tear flesh and cloths

all to pieces

A little later, on 27 September of the same year —

The natives pointed out a great conical peak of the mountain and

said Boongarry (tree kangaroo) walk about all right I said upp you go.
Buch a journey I never had the first mile up the centre of the gorge
through water and over great boulders as big as a house. I could
carry nothing, crawling and on hands and knees, and wading until
we got to the first spur and then straight up or nearly perpendicular
pulling ourselves up by the trees, all dense scrub wc climed right
to the top

Two days later he recorded in his diary—

used up all my trade food Was four days this last trip living on

sugar and bread could not get any game except one white cockatoo

the whole trip

Money was very short at all times and shortage of funds produced
extra problems. On 9 August 1887, from Rockhampton, Broadbent wrote

to de Vis ' 1 have only a few shillings left of that £5 you gave me'. His

grand-daughter, Mrs Margaret Thurgood, when discussing privations
he had endured, remembered that he hated to see food wasted and he
deplored the way many people ate only the centre of lamb chops and
left the remainder.

Some idea of Broadbent s engaging personality comes through his
letters to de Vis. It is reflected in this account of his visit to Pilton Station
where he met the 15 year-old Arthur Davis— later to become Australian
author Steele Rudd:

Mr Broadbent, a distinguished geologist from the Queensland
museum in Brisbane, arrived at 'Pilton'- He came because of
fossilised bones of extinct giant marsupial— the dinosaur— had
been found on occasions along the banks of Kings Creek and his

318

mission was to professionally investigate these areas. He was placed
in Arthurs care by "the boss" with strict instructions that the visitor
was always to be given the quietest horse on the station and he was
to accompany Mr Broadbent everywhere he went. "The geologist's"
ultimate departure created a void in his life, for he had enjoyed the
company of this interesting and educated man, always so ready to
impart to his youthful listener some of his profound knowledge on
many subjects quite apart from the odd fossils they had dug out of
the banks of King's Creek 33 .

There were others who helped him in the field. Frank L. Jardine of
Somerset, Cape York, was generous and very hospitable towards him as
he had been to other early collectors in the region. On one occasion it took
the squatter three days to get Broadbent across from Thursday Island to
Somerset in his cutter, as the weather conditions made the 45 km crossing
a hazardous trip. Jardine assisted Broadbent in field-work around the
Cape's northern tip. On 1 May 1884, he organised five men including
himself to help Broadbent to collect bowerbird species of the area. The
party had the use of nine horses for the project. With long years of
observations behind him at Somerset, Jardine discussed bird migrations
with Broadbent. Knowledge gained from field-work and no doubt
information from Jardine was the basis of his paper 'On the Migration of
Birds at the Cape York Peninsula' 34 .

Broadbent was also associated with Archibald Meston, newspaper
editor and writer of the time. Meston was commissioned by the
Queensland government to lead a scientific expedition to Bellenden Ker
Range, northern Queensland during June- July 1889. Broadbent was
collecting for the museum at Herberton at the time and he returned to
Cairns where he joined Meston's party. He was to collect natural history
specimens while the colonial botanist F.M. Bailey collected plants. Meston
described Broadbent as 'a hardworking, contented companion' despite the
very wet conditions which made it difficult for all concerned 35 .

Broadbent also went collecting with Henry Tryon, the assistant
curator of the museum. He also acknowledged an indebtedness to Tryon
for his help in preparing manuscripts and communicating them to the
Queensland Royal Society. After 1893, when he had to give up the field
work that he loved to return to Brisbane as an attendant in the museum,
his work with the specimens that he had collected was probably his
one consolation.

He married Maria Boreham at the Oval, Kelvin Grove, Brisbane on
11 February 1880. He had met her while collecting specimens at the old
gold diggings near Enoggera Reservoir, formerly known as the
'waterworks' on the western side of Brisbane. The Broadbents had five
children, four of whom survived, one son and three daughters. Broadbent
and his family lived at Ashgrove, then Red Hill in the 1890s. In 1903 they
moved to 128 Stonesleigh Street, Albion, where he died on 16 January 1911
at the age of 73 years while still on the staff of the museum.

In an obituary, probably written by Hamlyn-Harris, de Vis who with
Broadbent had spent the past 30 years in the service of the museum, is
quoted as having said:

It would be difficult to find Mr Broadbent 's superior, even at
60 years of age. He had every qualification for the work, was only
happy exercising it, he was thoroughly honourable and intensely loyal
to his friends. I shall miss him very much and shall always hold his
memory in deep respect and with affection 36 .

319

Ronald Hamlyn-Harris

He is said to have been of 'irreproachable character, a man of the
highest integrity, blameless reptuation, amiable disposition, rather

reserved, quiet more of a theorist than a practical man. Could talk

for two hours on the structure of the bee but could not tell you how to
preserve the honey ...a splendid scientist with a strong leaning to natural
history and entomology ' E .

His achievements while director of the Queensland Museum certainly
establish that, assessment to have been wrong in one respect only— he
was, indeed, a practical man. After years oi neglect he established the
museum's operations on a firm basis.

He was borne in Eastbourne, Sussex, m 1874. His father was Hamlyn
Huntingdon Harris of the 18th Hussars. He was educated in Germany and
England and trained in estate management. He became an expert apiarist
while managing his father's estate. His DSc was from Eberhard-Karls
University, Tubingen, Germany, in 1902, for his investigations on The
Statocysts of Capluilupoda which he had done at the Stazione Zoologica—
the famous Naples marine laboratory. He came to Australia in 1903.
Between 1903 and 1910 he was a science master at Toowoomba Grammar
School where he had reorganised science teaching. He became director of
the museum on 1 October 19 HP.

Hamlyn-Harris was the first director to be appointed to the museum
as a well-established zoologist, Certainly, William Haswell had been
trained as such but his MA from Oxford was positively elementary' in
comparison with Hamlyn-Harris' DSc, FRMS, FZS, FES, His predecessor,
de Vis, had not had any training specifically in science— although he was a
keen naturalist and during his life made up through experience what he
lacked in formal training. However, it was Hamlyn-Harris who understood
more of the back-up services needed in a museum— or indeed in any
scientific establishment and he made a particularly significant contribution
in that area. In the library he rearranged the volumes and introduced
appropriate registration and cataloguing techniques and, having assessed
its contents, he made good the obvious gaps in the holdings, He also
introduced and rationalised specimen registers. He reorganised the staff
and honorary associates were appointed to make up for the lack of a
professionally qualified staff establishment. For the first time there was
an anthropologist appointed— Douglas Rarmie — as well as appropriately
qualified support staff— a librarian and a stenographer. Hamlyn-Harris
was proud of his scientific qualifications, and protective of the museum's
scientific stature. It was probably this concern that caused his
exasperation with Wild, resulting in the insect collector's harsh dismissal
(see Chapter 9),

Hamlyn-Harris gave the first lectures in biology at the newly founded
Queensland University in 191L However, although he hoped to return to
his biological research on cephalopods, he w T as not able to do that, He
published, instead, on anthropological subjects. He was foundation
president of the Toowoomba Field Naturalists' Club, 1908 and president
of the Royal Society of Queensland, 1916 and of the Queensland
Entomological Society.

His other contribution was the result of a personal quality — the long
period that many of those he appointed stayed on the staff. He was, in fact,
a compassionate man, as evidenced in his treatment of J.D. Ogilby — he
managed his salary, bought his clothes, and paid his rent^'.

His stay at the museum was relatively short but his contribution was

320

great and lasting. He resigned after eight years— toward the end of World
War I — disappointed that he had not been able to persuade the
government to a greater degree of support for the museum. After his
resignation he went to Stanthorpe to manage his brother's fruit farm for
several years. While there he started a short-lived entomological society
whose main function was the co-ordination of pest control in the orchards.
From 1922 to 1924 he was in charge of the Australian Hookworm
Campaign — doing malaria and filaria surveys throughout Queensland.
Then he taught school at Southport. At least one student from that time
remembers how stimulating he was as an English teacher — particularly,
recalling his dissertation on witches and witchcraft during the class' study
of Macbeth. These years at Southport could not have been unhappy.
He was in the company of classically educated, scholarly and entirely
compatible colleagues, one of whom was a Queensland Rhodes scholar 40 .
Nevertheless, he was not teaching science and wanted to return to it. He
was again involved with filaria when he was city entomologist, Brisbane
City Council from 1928 to 1933— the first entomologist to be employed by
an Australian municipality— and was one of those who were instrumental
in finding a solution to Brisbane's endemic filariasis problem. During this
period he had an exchange of letters in the Brisbane Courier with Tom
Marshall over his — Hamlyn-Harris' — recommendations for introduction
of mosquito-eating fish— Gambusia assinis and Poecilia reticulata
(guppies). He was a lecturer in zoology at the university from 1936 to 1943.
He died in Brisbane on 26 June 1953, survived by his wife, Bertha and
their three sons and three daughters.

Heber Albert Longman

Longman was one of Australia's strongest exponents of vertebrate
palaeontology and evolutionary theory between the wars. His scientific
calibre was recognized in 1946 when he was awarded the Australian
Natural History Medallion and later, in 1952, the award of the ANZAAS
Mueller Medal for distinguished services to natural sciences in Australia 4 '.

Born on 24 June 1880 at Heytesbury, Wiltshire, England, his father
was a Congregational minister of liberal views who possessed a good
library, with the help of which Longman developed an early interest in
natural history and archaeology. He went to school at Emwell House in
Warminster. In his early years he became much attracted to T.H. Huxley's
tradition of rational scientific observation and he was to maintain this trait
through life. He came to Australia in 1902, apparently for health reasons.
Living first at Toowoomba, he revitalized a small weekly newspaper, the
Downs Post, and worked as its journalist. This paper evolved into the Rag
and later the Citizen with Longman as editor 41 . He met his wife, Irene, in
1902 when he called on her father, the local Congregational minister. She
became the first woman to be elected to the Queensland parliament.

While in Toowoomba Longman quickly gained a reputation as a
natural historian, developing an important plant collection which he sent to
government botanist F.M. Bailey in 1903 (he was noted among local people
for his field equipment which included a vasculum and a milk churn).
Bailey stimulated his scientific pursuits and ultimately part of Longman's
herbarium was sent to Kew. The remainder is now in the Queensland
Herbarium.

He joined the museum in 1911, recruited by Hamlyn-Harris who was a
fellow member of the Toowoomba Field Naturalists' Club which Longman
had initiated. When Hamlyn-Harris resigned in 1917 Longman became

321

acting director, the position being made permanent the following year.
During his 34 years at the museum he published over 70 scientific papers,
notably on fossil vertebrates, contributed articles to local papers and spoke
to many societies on a multitude of subjects from evolution to Egyptology.
After his retirement in 1945 he continued to contribute his column
'Nature's Way' to the Conner Mail and through it encouraged a wide
audience to be interested in the ecology and conservation of Queensland's
wildlife. His love and enthusiasm for every aspect of natural history was
apparent to all who read his articles and heard him speak. His lifelong
habit of unceasing observation led him on occasion to pursue a spider at.
night by torchlight and to keep different animals at home to study their
life histories.

Longman's warmth and humanity can be seen in the diary that the
young Ivor Filmer kept during his years at the museum. He had been on
the staff only two days when:

Monday 13 December 1944: Great excitement at the museum this
morning— three eggs in one of the live lizard cages were identified
as being the product of a male and female Striped-headed Goanna

Varunus goukitt Mr Longman was ijuite excited, as were all

of us...

The 16 year-old Filmer had just left school, and was enthusiastic
about the museum and natural history. Daily, his diary records the tasks
he completed and the conversations Longman had with him — encouraging
the young naturalist and discussing distribution, nomenclature, biology:

5 February 1944: AH the staff seem to be very interested to hear of
our hike on Saturday but of course it was Mr Longman to whom 1
told most of it* 3 .

Filmer recalls that Longman travelled by train from Chelmer:

apparently there was a little clique of back carriage travellers that
delighted in conversation of a cultural nature. A good friend and
fellow traveller was Sydney May of the University Music
department. (He) travelled up Brunswick St. by tram. He habitually
wore a long white coat on tram and tram. His thinning white hair
was long: in those days it was redolent of academia to witness a head
of long white hair„„

34 December L947: It was not only my first Xmas parry, but 1 think it
was the first time the staff of the Museum had ever celebrated Xmas.
The latter was probably discouraged by Mr Longman because of his
philosophical beliefs '

Longman liked nothing better than a good, sound, rational argument,
but in private. He was not aggressive— he was too much a gentleman; and
despite his good relations with, and ready access to the local press, he
never used the newspapers to compaign for the museum (see Chapter 3).
Commenting on a letter to the C aimer Mail, over the signature 'Disgusted
visitor', complaining of the lack of lighting in the museum, Longman said —

that the visitors were unfortunate that they visited the museum on
one of those dark days, which are rare in Brisbane. He wished that
the museum had sufficient lighting for emergency occasions, but
adequate installation would be difficult in such a bulding The
museum always remained open until 5 p.m., whereas other
institutions of the same nature closed at 4 p.m. on dark days".

In his career he was president of the Royal Society of Queensland
twice — in 1919 and 1939. He played an important role on the Great Barrier
Reef Committee, of which he was to be a vice-chairman. He was also a
member of the Australian National Research Council. He was a fellow of

322

the Linnean Society of London, of the Royal Anthropological Institute, and
corresponding member of the Zoological Society and he belonged to many
societies including the Queensland Naturalists' Club of which he was
president, and the international Rationalist Society — being very active in
the Queensland branch.

He died on 16 February 1954, age 73, and was buried at Chelmer. His
friend, naturalist Alec Chisholm presented the farewell.

George Mack

Mack was director of the Queensland Museum from 1946 to 1963. He
was born at Killearn, Scotland on 2 October 1899. Mack was a museum
man— he had assisted in the Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow
and had come to Queensland from the National Museum of Victoria where
he had been from 1923. He doubled the staff establishment of the museum
and improved both the storage conditions for the collection and the
standards of display. He was not able to do very much about the research
role of the institution— that was a matter addressed by his successors.
Nevertheless, Mack created a basis on which they could build— an
institution with a commitment to curation and care of collections and
service to the community.

Mack had arrived in Western Australia after World War I in which he
had served with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders 1914-1919, seeing
active service in France and Belgium. He joined the staff of the National
Museum of Victoria, Melbourne in 1923.

In 1935 he was promoted to the post of ornithologist and while in this
position he undertook a part-time science course at the University of
Melbourne. He graduated BSc majoring in zoology and geology. In October
1945 he was appointed senior scientific assistant to the director of the
museum, HA Longman, and was appointed acting director in Feburary
1946, becoming director shortly after. In fact he had come to Queensland
as Longman's probable successor 45 * 9 .

Although he knew the other Australian museums, he never was able
to travel overseas as he wanted to. In 1956 he applied to the Queensland
government for permission to apply for a Carnegie Foundation travel grant
in order to study museums in the USA, Canada and Europe. It was
considered an inopportune time and he was asked to apply at a later date,
but he never did so.

He published a number of papers on ornithological and other
subjects. He was a president of the Royal Society of Queensland, the
Anthropological Society of Queensland and the Queensland Naturalists'
Club and an executive member of the Great Barrier Reef Committee.

He was a quiet, frugal man, living a very private life at Enoggera— in
the house he moved into when he first came to Queensland. In the late
1950s, after his two daughters, Margaret (McLeod) and Jean (Fearnside)
had grown up and left home, he and his wife Mary moved to a smaller
house at Aspley. George Mack died, at the Royal Brisbane Hospital, on
the 24 October 1963.

Robert Burns, the Scottish poet, whose verse Mack admired and
whose sentiments he shared, once wrote 'something in us never dies' and
this indeed applied to Mack's life work in the Queensland Museum, for on
his labours others have built, and on the steps he made, others have made
further progress.

323

•,.-

'■.: :.

THE STAFF
1862-1970

Appendix 2

This list is drawn from the Blue Books in Votes and Proceedings of the
Queensland Parliament 1873-1915, 1924-30, 1946-9, 1951, 1953; Minute
books and annual reports of the Queensland Museum Board of Trustees in
the Queensland Museum library; Queensland Museum Staff Attendance
Books 1911-69; and Queensland Museum correspondence and personal
files 1 .

Until the first board of trustees was disbanded in 1907 some members
of staff, such as clerical assistants and often attendants and collectors,
were board appointees paid by the board from contingencies and were not
listed in the Blue Book.

The list is chronological rather than alphabetical and names are
classified according to the person's occupation in the museum. Where
several different positions were held the information is replicated under
each relevant heading.

Previous page: On 3 November 1985 the
museum closed to the public to
prepare for its move to the new building.
The occasion was celebrated by a party
attended by present and past staff and
board members, and their families.

Doorkeepers, Messengers, Attendants

R. TAYLOR (1876 messenger); G. WALKER (1876-80 porter);
P. MURPHY (1877-8 night watchman); J. CORMACK (1879-83 messenger);
J. LANE (1880-93 assistant messenger); A. MacPHERSON (1883-91
attendant); J.H. SPILLER (1891-3 and 1897-1902 doorkeeper);
K. BROADBENT (zoological collector 1882-1893; 1893-1911 attendant);
CJ. WILD (entomological collector 1889-93 and 1911, 1893-1897 messenger,
entomologist 1897-1905, acting director 1905-10); J. DICKSON (1899-1900
extra hand/night watchman); W. HEDGES (1899-1901 gardener 2 ); F.G.
SMEDLEY (1901-2 night watchman); E. LOWER (1899-1900 packer/label
writer); J. LAMB (1899-1902 packer/painter/assistant messenger);

B. McCLELLAND (1905-6 doorkeeper); B. HARRISON (1906-11
doorkeeper, 1911-8 senior attendant); W.E. GREENSILL (1911-14 attendant
and carpenter); J. BAILLIE (1911-27); I. ANDERSON (1911); E. VAREY
(1912-30); T. WILLIS (1914); R.V. SMITH (1917-25 and 1925-31);

A. GORMAN (1919-32); M. BEIRNE (1925-59 senior attendant);
E. TURNER (1930-2 relieving); W. MITCHELL (1932-4); A. MILLER
(1932 relieving); C. BOONE (1933 relieving); W. SULLIVAN (1933
relieving); W. CAMPBELL (1933 relieving); S. UPRICHARD (1934);
A SWAN (1934-44); B. BOWEN (1934-54); V. ARKELL (1943-8);

C. YORKE (1945-58); W. TURNBULL (1947-8); J. HAWKINS (1948-51);
J. COTTAM (1948); J. WALKER (1948-59); E. ROWELL (1949);

C. BOWMAN (1951-9; 1959-64 senior attendant);

J. JONES (1953-63); A. WATSON (1954-5); L. PLATT (1955-62); E. BAIN
(1958); L. TAYLOR (1958-64, 1964- senior attendant); J. THOMSON (1959-
65); C. MORTON (1959-73); F. CORRIE (1959-60); R. BELL (1959-73);
R. HARDLEY (1960-8 assistant anthropology from 1968, curator from 1975);

D. BLACK (1960-1); L. CORT (1961-72); R. BRUCE (1963-76);

W. SCHUELER (1966-73); S. MATHIESON (1967-79); A SOMMERFELDT
(1968-77).

Administrative and Secretarial

C. CHESTER (1878 temporary clerical assistant); R. NEWTON (1878-
80 secretary); H. TRYON (1883-4 clerical assistant, assistant curator from
1885); H. HURST (1887 clerk/librarian, also geology collector);
A. PRESTON (1891-6 clerk/librarian); AJ. NORRIS (1896-8 clerical
assistant); G.H. HAWKINS (1898-1902 clerical assistant); H.B. TAYLOR
(1906-8 office boy); V.H. CHAMBERS (1908-11 cadet clerk); E.G. MURPHY
(1911-53 stenographer); EJ. BINGHAM (1948-51 clerk-typist);
S. LANDY (1952-64); E. GREIG (1958-9 clerk-typist); D. CHORLEY (1959-

326

66 stenographer); C. LA1NG (1960-1); R.E. JONES (1962-5); L. HEALEY
(1964-5 clerk-typist); M STEGEMAN (1965-6 clerk- typist); C. CORRIE
(1965-6 clerk-typist): J. MAGEE (1966-9 stenographer); C. SANDS (1966
clerk-typist); J. UTZ (1966-76 stenographer); R, WHITBY (1966-70 clerk-
typist); J. WRIGHT (1970 clerk-typist).

Museum Assistants and Cadets (Scientific)

JA SMITH (1900-2 mineralogy), J. LAMB (1902-10 industrial
department); W.M. COLCLOUGH (1911-12 mechanical, assistant
preparator from 3913, taxidermist from 1919); R. ILL1DGE (1919
registration of MacGregor collection); G. JACKSON (1937-9 ethnol
killed in action); 1. FILMLR (1944-52 general); S.B. GUNN (B5Q-S
zoology); T. KIRKPATRICK (1953 entomology); M. GALLEY (1953
ethnology); M. WILSON (1954-6 entomology); S. DELLER m. BILLING
(1956-60 zoology); W. BUTT (1956-60 zoology); S. RHODES (1958-9
zoology), E. SNOWDEN (1960-1 zoology); I. McCOSKER (1960-1 and
1962-3 zoology); B. SMITH (1960-4 ethnology); S. KENDALL (1962
zoology), V. WILLS (1962); L HAREN (1963-6 zoology); B. GAYDON
(1963-5 zoology); G. GEHRMANN (1963-4 molluscs); L. HARRIS (1964-5
zoology); P. WIPPELL (.1964-6 entomology, 1966-8 anthropology);
L ELDER m WEDGEWOOD (1965-7 and 1980-3 ornithology); M. McEWAN
(1966-7 zoology); J. WILSON (1966-80 entomology); B. McKEON (1967
zoology); H, JOHNSON (1967 vertebrate zoology); K. WRIGHT (1967-8
general); K. CAMPBELL (1967-8 history and technology);
J. ARMSTRONG (1968-9 zoology); R. MONROE ( 1968-71' entomology,
curator arachnology from 1972, curator crustaceans from 1974); K RABIG
(1968 zoology); R. HARDLEY (attendant from 1960. 1968-75 anthropology,
curator from 1975); B. DICKSON (1970 zoology); P. DAVIE (1970-77
crustaceans, curator from 1578).

Assistants iArti

C. SANDERCOCK m FEARNLEY (1947-50, 1952-3 and 1972);
V. SMEED (1950-6), J. TRACEY (1953); L. EVANS (1956-9); J. TR1VETT
(1957); R.K. JONES (1958-62); M, GAL1.AWAY (1960-5); D.A, WILSON
(1962-7); M.(Mary) McKENZEB (1965-70); M.(Margaret) McKENZlE
(1970-2); R. COOK (1967-8); S. H1LEY (1968-74); E GEHRMANN (1969).

Collectors

A MacPHERSON (1881-3 geology, attendant from 1883);
K. BROADBENT (1882-93 zoology, attendant from 1893); H.F, WALLMAN
(1884-5 geology): E.B. LINDON (1886-7 geology); H. HURST (1887-91
geology); H.G STOKES (1892-3 geology); C.J. WILD (1889-93 and 1911
entomology, messenger from 1893, entomologist from 1897, acting directoi
from 1905); D. RANNIE (1912 ethnology, librarian 1913-4);
H.L MAYNARD (1913-5 honorary).

Photographers

R.V. OLDHAM (1955-6 temporary assistant); S. BREEDEN (1957-65);
A. EASTON (1965-84).

Carpenters, Artificers

T. SKINNER (1880 and 1884-93); J. GILBERT (1880 assistant);
J. WILSON (1881-4); A.S. RUSSELL (1899-1900), A. NORRIS (1899-1900);
J. BERRY (1899-1902 and 1902-10 pan-time); W.E. GREENSILL (1911-14
attendant and carpenter); T.C. MARSHALL (cadet from 1912, assistant
preparator from 1914, 1925-42 artificer and modeller, seconded to
Department of Harbours and Marine from 1942); W. BALAAM (1966-74
artificer).

327

Librarians and Assistants (see also clerical assistants 1878-1910).

E. LOWER (1900-2 librarian/label writer); C.G.F. SINNAMON (1911-
16 assistant); D, RANNIE (ethnology collector 1912, 1913-14);
R.J. CUTHBERT BUTLER (1915-17); A. FENWICK (1918-30);
N. HOLDSWORTH (1931-3); K. WATSON (1933-42); D. TABRETT (1940-2
assistant), I. GRICHTING (1943-6 assistant); B. BAIRD (1946-7 assistant);
V. MacDONALD (1948-50 assistant); N. TURNBULL (1950-5 assistant);
J. USCINSKI (1955 assistant); K. CARTER m BREEDEN (1955-62
assistant); W. WELLS (1956-7 assistant); C FORDE (1957-62); E, WIXTED
(1961- ); F. MATHERS (1967-8 assistant); D. CRONIN (1969-70 assistant).

Education Officers

N NOWLAND (1939 temporary— to write a handbook); J. HODGE
(1967-75).

Taxidermists, Preparators

E CURTIS (1876-8 assistant); E SPALDING (1880-93 taxidermist);
A. ALDER (1907-15 taxidermist); W.E. WEATHERILL (1907-11 assistant);
MJ, COLCLOUGH (1913-9 assistant, 1919-31 1933-47 taxidermist);
T.C. MARSHALL (1912-13 cadet, 1914-25 assistant, 1925-42 artificer and
modeUer, 1942-3 seconded to Department Harbours and Marine as
ichthyologist); D.P. VERNON (1946-60 preparatory 1960-71 senior
preparator, 1971-81 ornithologist); M.E. McANNA (1947-71 preparator);
K. KEITH (1948-54 assistant); G. AYRE (1954-5 temporary cadet);
T. TEBBLE (1960-71 preparator, 1971* senior preparator); V. KEIGHT
(1962-5 assistant); W. FREELAND (1966 assistant); A J. HILLER (1969-73
assistant).

Curators and Other Technical and Scientific Staff

C. D'OYLY APLIN (1871 honorary —cataloguing and arranging
mineral and fossil collections); F.M. BAILEY (1874-80 keeper of the
herbarium); E. COXEN (1876-82 part time conchologist); H. TRYON
(clerical assistant from 1883, 1885-93 assistant curator invertebrates);
C. HEDLEY (1888-9 'supernumerary' assistant curator molluscs); C.J. WILD
(entomological collector 1889-93 and 1911 messenger 1893-7, 1897-1905
entomologist, acting director 1905-10); C de VIS (curator from 1882.
director from 1902, 1905-10 consulting scientist); HA LONGMAN (1911-8,
assistant curator); H HACKER (1911-29 entomologist. 1929-43 part-time);
T.H. JOHNSTON (1912-5 honorary zoologist); J.D. OGILBY (1901 assistant
curator, 1912-20 part-time ichthyologist); J. SHIRLEY (1912-5 honorary
conchologist. 1920-1 conchologist); D.R. BUCKLEY (1913-4 part-time
osteologist); A.B. WALKOM (1915-7 honorary palaeontologist);
H.C. RICHARDS (1917 honorary petrologist and mineralogist);
F.W. WHITEHOUSE {1927-37 honorary palaeontologist); A J. TURNER
(1931 honorary entomologist); H. JARVIS (1944-8 entomologist seconded
from Department of Agriculture and Stock for one day per fortnight);
G. MACK (1945 senior scientific assistant, director from 1946); J.T. WOODS
(1948-51 assistant geologist, 1952-59 curator geology, director from 1963);
A. BARTHOLOMAI (1960-8 curator geology, director from 1969);
E.C. DAHMS (1962- curator entomology); E. CROSBY (1965 curator
anthropology); B. CAMPBELL (1964-70 curator zoology, 1970-76 curator
crustaceans, 1977- deputy director); HA SWEETSER (1966-74
technologist); J. COVACEVICH (1966- curator reptiles); P. JELL (1969
curator geology). M. QUINNELL (1968- curator anthropology); S. HOARE
(1968-70 curator ichthyology); H. KING (1969-73 curator molluscs);

328

C. WALLACE (1970-7 curator lower invertebrates); D. VERNON (1946-71
preparator, 1971-81 ornithologist).

Directors and Others in Charge

C. COXEN (1862-73 honorary curator); K STAIGER (1873-80
custodian and government analyst); WA HASWELL (1880 curator),
F.M. BAILEY (keeper of the herbarium from 1874, 1880-2 temporary
curator); C. de MS (1882-1901 curator, 1902-5 director, consulting scientist
1905-10); C.J. WILD (entomological collector 1889-93 and 1911, messenger
1893-7, entomologist 1897-1904, 1905-10 acting director);
R. HAMLYN-HARRIS (1910-17 director); HA LONGMAN (assistant
curator from 1911, 1918-45 director); G. MACK (senior scientific assistant
1945, 1946-63 director); J.T. WOODS (assistant geologist from 1948,
curator geology 1952-9, 1963-8 director); A. BARTHOLOMAI (curator
geology from 1960, 1969- director).

Trustees 1876-1907

C. COXEN— squatter, public servant, politician, naturalist (1876);
J. BANCROFT— medical practitioner, natural scientist (1876-94);
J. DOUGLAS-squatter, public servant, politician (1876-99); J. FENW1CK-
stock and station agent (1876-99); A.C. GREGORY— explorer, public
servant, politician (1876-99); G, (GRESLEY) LUKIN- public servant,
newspaper editor (1876-80); J.M. MACROSSAN— miner, politician (1879-
91); W.H. M1SKIN — public servant, politician, lawyer, naturalist (1S76-9D;
G. ROFF-sugar grower, merchant, politician (1876-89); LA BERNAYS—
public servant (1878-79); K.I. O'DOHERTY- medical practitioner,
politican (1878-85); C.H. BUZACOTT — newspaper editor and proprietor,
politician (1880-1); A.H. PALMER— pastoralist, politician (1882-98);
BM. MORETON- pastoralist, politician (1885-99); A. NORTON-
pastorahst, politician (1888-1907); FA. BLACKMAN- grazier (1892-3);
R. GA1LEY- architect (1892-07); W,0. HODGKINSON- explorer,
journalist, public servant, politican (1892-3); J. CAMERON — pastoralist
company director, politician (1899-1907); J.V, CHATAWAY — newspaper
proprietor, politician (1899-1901); C.F. MARKS — medical practitioner,
politician (1899-1907); J.W. SUTTON — ironmaster, local government
alderman (1899-1907); E.G.E. SCRIVEN - public servant (L905-7);
AJ. TURNER— medical practitioner, entomologist (1905-7).

32Q

7!f

"3 '

> jfc.

REFERENCES

AND

FOOTNOTES

Appendix 3

Abbreviations; ADB, Australian Dictionary of Biography; QMA,
Queensland Museum Archives, QSA, Queensland State Archives; UQA,
University of Queensland Archives; VP, Votes and Proceedings of the
Queensland Parliament (Queensland Government Printer, Brisbane);
others as in the World List of Scientific Penodicuts.

The Queensland Museum Board Minutes for 1876-1907 are held in the
Queensland Museum library. A bound volume of the Annual Reports of the
Queensland Museum held in the museum library (Cat. No. 14/1841)
contains the reports for the years 1877-8 and 1882-19(17. For reports for
the year JS78-9 see VP 1879 vol. 2: p. 1293; for 1879-80 see VP 1880 vol.
, for 1881-82 see VP 1882 voL 2: p. 1199. There is no report for
1880-81, although that for 1881-82 reports on the whole calendar year of
1881. Annual Reports 1902-1907 are in the Queensland Parliamentary
Papers as part of the Reports of the Department of Agriculture and Stock for
those years.

I THE STAGE IS SET

1 Queensland Government Gazette No.l, Saturday 10 December 1859, pp.1-4.

2 Knight. JJ.. 1895. In tin- Early Days (Sapsford and Co.. Brisbane).

3 Morrison, V.F., 1888. The Aldine History of Queensland vol.1, pp.1-384 (The

Aldine Publishing Company, Sydm
One of the ships chartered by Lang was the Fortitude, after which Fortitude
Valley, a suburb of Brisbane, was named; and it was in the Fortitude that W
Pettigrew, later a prominent member of the Philosophical Society immigrated.

4 Cannon, M„ 1975. Life in the Cities. \n Australia in the Victorian Age vol.3, p.14

(T. Nelson Australia Pty. Ltd., Melbourne).

5 Lawson, R., 1973. Brisbane in the 1890s pp.3-4 (University of Queensland

Press, Brisbane).

6 Second Census of the- Colony of Queensland 1864 taken on the 1st January 1864

1864 (Registrar General's Report, Queensland Government Printer).

7 O'Donohue, W. 1981-82. First Agent General. Development of the Office in

London 1860-1876./ h\ Hist S0C Qd 11(3): 59-74.

8 Johnson, W.R., 1982. The Call of the Land, a History of Queensland to the Present

Day p.84 Uacaranda Press, Brisbane).

9 Schindler, C, 1916. Non-British settlement in Queensland./ H. Hist, Site, Qd

1(2); K4-75.
10 Bowen tu Newcastle, August 1861. Governor's Dispatches to Secretary of State 1,
p.474(QSAGm,T~»-

I I Bowen to Newcastle. 7 April 1860. Governor's Dispatches to Secretary of State t,

p. 194 (QSA Gov/22).

12 Morrison. AA, 1966. Colonial Society I860- 1890. Qd Heritage 1(5): 21-30.

13 Holthouse, H. ( 1982. Illustrated History of Brisbane p.27 (A.H. & A.W. Reed Pty

Ltd, Frenehs Forest)

14 Bowen to Newcastle, 18 Mav 1860. Governor's Dispatches to Secretary of State 1,

p.219 (QSA GOV/22).

15 Qur First Half Century, a review of Queensland Progress, 1909, pp. 1 1-13

i Government of Queensland, Brisba

16 With Hope and Courage, undated (Division of Migrant Services, Brisbane)

17 Bowen to Newcastle, 25 Mav 1860. Governors Dispatches to Secretary of State 1.

(k240 (QSA Gov/22).

18 Colliver, F.S. and Woolston, F.P.. 1978. Aboriginals in the Brisbane Area, pp.58-

88. In Brisbane Retrospect. Eight Aspects of Brisbane History (library Board of
Queensland. Brisbane).

19 Holthouse, H.. 1975. Looking Back, The first 150 years of Queensland Schools p.15

(Department of Education, Brisbane).

20 Hawkins, T.M., 1965. The Queensland Great Public Schools, a History pp.3.27

(Jacaranda Press. Brisbane).

21 Birman t W., 1979. Gregory of Rahiworth a Man in his Time p,98 (University of

W A Press, Perth).

22 Whittell, H.M.. 1954. The Literature of Australian Birds pp. 174-5 (Paterson

Brockensha, Perth).

23 Bowen to Newcastle, Feb. 1860. Governor's Dispatcties to Secretary of State 1,

p.61 (QSA Gov/22).

24 Marks, E.M., 1960. A History of the Queensland Philosophical Society and the
Previous page: The central mu Roval Society of Queensland from 1859 to 1911. Proc. R. Soc. Qd 71(2): 17-42.

ft the Exhibition building, 1986 25 General Report of Proceedings. 2 December 1862. Trans Phtl. Soc. Qd 1.

332

28
29

35
36
37

38
3$

Moreton Bay Courier 21 and 25 January 1862; The Queensland Tw.

January 1862.
In the annual report of the museum's trustees for 1899, signed by Chairman
A. Norton on behalf of the board, the founding of the museum is described:
The Queensland Museum began its existence in the year
1855. Its birth was due to the gifts and exertions of a little
knot of earnest naturalists, whose first contributions were
deposited in a room in the so-called Conservatory on
Wickham Terrace. Foremost amon>; his friends in self
denying enthusiasm was the late Charies Coxen, who for
years was Honorary Curator, and whose talent and
unselfish perseverance we hold in honour. (VP 1900, vol.2,
p.143).
Many of the programmes for the museum's public lectures 1911-16 similarly
describe the museum as having been founded in 1855. Very likely Hamlyn-
Harris' authority for this date was the annual report of 1899. Later Mack
(1956: The Queensland Museum 1855-1955. Mew. Qd Mux. 13(2): l($-Zi)
also accepted this date, as did Marks (23). Nevertheless it is in its report of
December 1862 that the Philosophical Society states that 'the Society has
during the past year specially directed its attention to the formation of a
nucleus of the museum of natural science'. Undoubtedly the collections given
to that museum - by Coxen, Rawnsley and Waller - had started before 1862,
but the museum had not.
VP 1872: Formation of Public Museum, p.589.
Morrison, A.A, 1962-63. Brisbane one hundred years ago./ R. Hist. Son. Qd 7(1):

72-92.
Brisbane Courier 28 July 1924. A vision of 70 years ago.
Strahan, R., 1980. Rare and Curious Specimens. An Illustrated History of the

Australian Museum 1827-1979 (Australian Museum, Sydney).
Steele, J.G.. 1975. Brisbane Town in Convict Days 1824-1842 pp.154-5

(University of Queensland Press, Brisbane).
Hindwood, KA-, 1938. John Gould in Australia. Emu 38: 95-118.
Marks, E.N., 1963. Silvester Diggles - a Queensland naturalist one hundred

years ago. QdNat. 17: 15-25.
Anon, vide Carter, J., 1981. Nothing to Spare (Penguin Books, Australia).
Brisbane Courier 17 May 1864.
Brisbane Courier 29 September 1864.

Cilento, R., 1962. Medicine in Queensland./. R. Htst Soc. Qd 6(4): 866-907,
Barclay, E. t 1971. Fevers and Stinks; some problems of Public Health in the
1870s and the 1880s. Qd Heritage 2(4); 3-12.

2 SHEER WANT OF SPACE

1 Moreton Bay Courier 25 January 1862.

2 Steele, J.G., 1975. Brisbane Town in Convict /.toystUniversity of Queensland

Press, Brisbane).

3 Hogaii, J., 1978. A Study of Brisbane's Historic Windmill (unpublished

manuscript, Brisbane City Council, Brisbane)

4 Marks, E.N., 1960. A history of the Queensland Philosophical Society and the

Royal Society of Queensland from 1859 to 1911. Proc. R. Soc. Qd 71(2): 17-42.
2pfe,

5 VP 1870: pp.117.142,167,168.

6 Aplin to Minister for Public Works, 1 June 1871. VP 1872: p.589.

7 SUigtr to Hon W.H. Walsh, 2 June 1873 (QSA Department of Public Works

inward correspondence 2168, 2169).

8 Hogan, J., 1982. Living History of Brisbane (Boolarong Publications, Brisbane).

9 Queensland Post Office Directory 1878-9.

10 Coxen to Hon. Secretary for Public Works, 26 July 1872 (QSA).

11 Stanley to the Under Secretary, Department for Public Works, 12 August 1872

(QSA).

12 Staiger to Hon. J.M. Thompson, 21 July 1873, 2 August 1873 (QSA).

13 Gregory to the Secretary for Public Works, 28 April 1875 (QSA PRE A 337 6144

19.10).

14 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 6 February 1877, 29 May 1877.

15 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 18 July 1877.

16 Queensland Parliamentary Debates 1884: vol.44, p. 1611.

17 Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association (RNA) records, John

Oxiey Library.

18 Wadley, D„ 1973. Address by the President of the RNA to Brisbane North

Rotary Club, 12 June 1973.

19 The Brisbane Courier 15 August 1891.

333

20 Personal reminiscence of J.B. Chapel, former Graded Foreman, State Works

Department

21 Watson, D. and McKay, J., 1984. A directory of Queensland Architects to 1940.

Occasional paper* of the Fryer Library, university of Queensland 5; 1-236.

22 Addison, G.H.M., 1899. Architecture as a necessary branch of education.

Queensland Art Society Annua! Review and Exhibition Catalogue (Oxley Library
RBJ 709.943 ANN),

23 Bannister-Fletcher. 1961. A History of Architecture (Athlone Press, London).

24 Exhibition Building, National Trust citation (National Trust. Queensland).

25 Rogers, F.. 1985. Organs call the fcinu agaia Sunday Mail 24 March 19: ;

36 Fboaris, M. I , 198& \ Place of Light and Learning (University of Queensland
ess, Brisbane),

27 YVOR series (QSA).

28 Etheridge, R. inr, 1910, Manuscript report to the Premier of Queensland (QSA

PRE A337 6144 15.10^.

29 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 30 September 1900.

30 Annual Report Queensland Museum 1899. VP 1900: VOlA P-14&

31 Duty Mail 13 February 1933 (Brisbane).

32 Standard 12 January 1934. Courier Mail 13 January 1934; 15 January 1934:

editorial; 20 January 1934; 22 January : day Mail 14 January L934.

Queensland Museum Cutting Hook Vol.3, p.146-8.

33 Department of Works records.

3 LOYAL AND ZEALOUS SERVICE

1 Marks, E.N., 1960. A history of the Queensland Philosophical Society and the

Royal Society from 1859 to IflllAoc R. Sac Qd 7U2): 17-12.

2 Government Gazette 7 October 1371: voJ.12(99). p.1455; 6 January 1872.

l3U). p.lS72; 4 January 1873: vol.l4(2">, p.47.

3 Aptin tO Minister for Public Works, 6 September 1871. VP 1872, p.582.

4 Staiger to the Hon. W.H. Walsh, 2 June 1873 (QSA).

5 Coxen to the Hoitthe Secretary for Lands, 18 July 1974 (QSA G149/3).

1 nnual Report Queensland Museum 1876. VP 1877.

7 Bernavs to 5e< ret try for Public Works and Mines. 14 October 1873; Coxen to

Secretary for Public Works and Mines. VP 1875: pp.1189-93.

8 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 21 March 1876; 21 July 1876.

9 Bailey to the Minister for Lands, Report on the Herbarium, Queensland

Museum. VP 1879: vol.2, p.98.

10 Brisbane Conner 22 November 1879.

1 1 Lukin, Under Secretary for Mines to the Board of Trustees, Queensland

Museum 29 December 1879 (QMA correspondence).

12 Under Secretary for Mines to Staiger. 30 December 1879; Staiger to Under

Secretary for Mines, 21 January 1880; Miakin to the Hon. the Minister for
Mines, 7 February 1880 (copies in QMA correspondence inward, before 1880).

13 Strahan, R. r 1975. Rare and Curious Specimens. An Illustrated History of the

Australian Museum 1827-1979 (Australian Museum, Sydney).

14 Anon, 1925. Death of Professor Haswell. Australian Museum Magazine 2(6): 194.

15 Mack, G., 1956. The Queensland Museum 1855-1955. Mem. Qd Mus. 13(2):

106-124.
L6 Johnston, ML, 1916. Presidential address. Prvc. R Soc. Qd 28: 1-17.

White, C.T., 1949. P.M. Bailey, his life and work. Proc & Soc Qd 61 : 105-114.

17 Bernays to Ferkins. Under Secretary for Public Lands, Memorandum. 19

October 1883 (QSA G140/3).

18 Queensland Museum Board Minuter 1 June 1880.

19 Queensland Parliamentary Debates 1880: vol.33, p.961.

20 de Vis to the Hon. the Minister for Works, 12 November 1881 (QSA 2209D).

21 Tenison-Woods to fhe Hon. Commissioner for Public Works, 24 November 1881

(QSA).

22 White, C.T., 1945. Henry Tryon — First Hon. Secretary, Royal Society of

Queensland, and his place in Queensland Science. /W ft SoC (#56(9): 77-80.

23 Brondbent to de Vis. 23 Mav 1889 (QMA).

24 Hurst to de Vis, 26 November 1887 (QMA).

25 Hurst to de Vis, 5 November 1887 (QMA).

26 Hurst to de Vis, 20 November 1887 (QMA).

27 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 4 December 1891.

28 Stirling, EX. and Zietz, A.H.C.. 1899. Fossil remains of Lake Callabonna. Mem. R.

Soc. S.A. 1: 40.

29 Queensland Museum Board Minute* 1 July 1892.

30 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 24 February 1893.

31 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 7 July 1893

334

32 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 1 September 1893; 2 March 1894,

33 J. Jordan to Under Secretary. Dept. Agriculture, 21 July 1900 (QMA

correspondence inward 1900).

34 Brisbane Telegraph 5 October 1929. Veteran Gardener Retirement. Brisbane

Courier 8 October J 929.
J, Jordan held the position of curator of the museum gardens from 1897 to
1929. From his appointment until the move to South Brisbane in 1986,
gardeners were employees of the Department of Agriculture — subsequent h
the Department of Primary Industries. On 31 March 1934 a trust, consisting of
the directors-general of Primary Industries and Education, and the museum's
director, was gazetted to administer the museum and art gallery garden as a
public reserve.

35 Anon, 23 April 1915. A. Alder obituary. Brisbane Courier

36 J.V. McCarthy to PJ. MacDermott, Chief Secretary's Office, 21 March 1910

(Q$A PRE A33? 6144 1910).

37 Etheridge, R. jnr, 1910. Manuscript report to the Premier of Queensland (QSA

PREA337 6144 19.10).

38 Hamlyn-Harris to Under Secretary, Chief Secretary's Department, 22 March

1917 (QMA correspondence outward 17/159).

39 Under Secretary to Hamlyn-Harris, 30 January 1911 (QMA correspondence

inward 11/45).

40 Finnev Isles and Company to Director, June 1911 (QMA correspondence inward

11/35.1)

41 C.J. Wild, accepting appointment 13 January 1911 (QMA correspondence

inward 11/50).

42 CJ. Wild to Hamlyn-Harns. 8 June 1911, 12 June 191 J (QMA correspondem e

inward 1 1/338, 11/346). Chief Secretary's Office to Director, 26 June 1911
(QMA correspondence inward 11/374).

43 Longman, Acting Director to Under Secretary, Chief Secretary's Office,

12 December 1917 (QMA correspondence inward 17/553)

44 Marks, E.X. and Dahms, E., 1974. Henry Hacker, obituary. Mem. Qd Mus. 17(1):

191 4.

45 Longman to Chief Secretary's Office, 23 October 1918 (QMA Correspond* I

inward and outward IS/403).

46 Filmer, I.. 1944-48. Manuscript diary (QMA).

47 Colclough to the Hon. the Premier, 21 September 1931 (QSA).

48 Longman to Under Secretary, Chief Secretary's Department, 18 November

1931 (QMA correspondence 1931).

49 Telegraph 12 March 1932; Standard 12 March 1932; 14 March 1932. Museum

Cutting Book Vol.3, pp.102-:-: (QMS).
.50 The Sunday Mail 18 December 1932.

51 Under Secretary, Chief Secretary's Department to Longman, 26 April 1929, with

enclosed report of Public Service Commissioners on the museum (QMA
correspondence inward and outward 1929/217)

52 Mack to Director General of Education, 25 May 1956 (QMA G. Mack File).

53 Mack to the Chairman, Public Service Board. August 1963 (QMA G. Mack hit)

4 SHOW AND TELL

1 Marks, E'.N.. 1960. A History of the Queensland Philosophical Society and the

Royal Society of Queensland Proa R, Soc. Qd 71: 23.

2 Annual Report Queensland Museum 1899. VP 1900: vol.2, p.143.

3 Aplin to Minister for Public Works. 1 June 1871; 6 September 1871. VP 1872:

►.589.

4 Woods, J.T., 1964, C. D'Oyly Aplin, first government geologist (of the SOUlh«

district of Queensland. Stem. Qd Mus. 14(4); 112.

5 Queensland Government Gazette 24 June 1871 - vol.l2(64), p.928; 7 October

1871: vol.2(99), p.1455; 6 January 1872: vol.l3<l); 4january 1873: vol. 14(2),
p,47.

6 Queensland Government Gazette 11 January 1873: vol.l4(3), p .66.

7 Staiger to the Hon W.H. Walsh, Minister for Works. 2 June 1873 (QSA G 149/3)

8 Daintree to Btaiger, 16 Mav 1873 (QSA GU9/3).

9 Staiger to the Hon. J.M. Thompson Minister for Works, 21 Julv 1873 (QSA

G 149/3).

10 Queensland Museum Numismatic Register Accession numbers N165, N166,

N190.

1 1 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 18 July 1877.

12 First Inventory' Queensland Museum 1875-6. Signed by A.C. Gregory and

WJi.Miskin(QMA).

13 Spencer-Browne, 1926. Queensland Courier various dates in August.

Queensland Museum Cutting Book 1.

335

The Mr Dignan referred to may have been an employee of the Post Office —
an H.E. Dignan is listed as a telegraph operator in the Blue Book of 1878.

14 Spalding had previously worked for Ramsay, curator of the Australian

Museum, Sydney, who had named a bird after him— the Northern Logrunner,
Orthonyx spaldingi, formerly known as Spalding's Orthonyx.

15 Palmer, A.H., 1884. Report on the Sufficiency or Otherwise of the Present

Building. Queensland Museum Board Minutes 16th October 1884.

16 Queensland Museum Numismatic Register, N32.

17 Norton, A.H., 1901. Queensland Museum Board Minutes 26 January 1901.

18 Etheridge, R. jnr, 1910. Manuscript report to the Premier of Queensland (QSA

PRE A337 6144 19.10).

19 Anon, 1915. Obituary A. Alder. The Brisbane Courier 23 April 1914.

20 Anon, 1914. At the Brisbane Museum. The Queenslander 31 January 1914.

21 Anon, Aboriginal Exhibit (undated, 1914 almost certainly as newspaper report

associated with 15 above) Queensland Museum Cutting Book 1.

22 Vernon, D.P., 1977. Obituary Thomas Claude Marshall. Mem. Qd Mus. 18(1):

124-6.

23 Marshall, T.C., 1964. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef {Angus and Robertson,

Sydney).

24 Wixted, E.P., 1969. Mephisto, the Tale of a Tank. History and Technology Leaflet

No. 2 (Queensland Museum, Brisbane).

25 Filmer, L, 1944-48. Manuscript diary (QMA).

26 Mack, G., 1953. New Displays in the Queensland Museum, Brisbane. Museum

6: 178-183.

27 In the board's annual report for 1899 the Philosophical Society and the

museum are said to have been founded in 1855 and Mack accepted this date.
Although some of the specimens that later were to be displayed in the
Windmill were undoubtedly in private hands by 1855, the Philosophical
Society was not formed until 1859 and the museum began three years later,
on the 20th January 1862 (See Chapter I 26 ).

28 Mack, G., 1959. Centenary of Queensland Historical Exhibition (S.G. Reid

Government Printer, Brisbane).

29 Evans, S., 1982. Historic Brisbane and its Early Artists p.68 (Boolarong

Publications, Brisbane).

30 Sanker, L, 1977. Queensland in the 1860's. The photography of Richard

Daintree. Queensland Museum Booklet no.10.

31 Wixted, E.P., 1970. Aviation Activities. Kalori 39: 13-14.

32 Covacevich, J., 1977. Visitors to the Queensland Museum, A Survey of Attitudes to

the Museum and its Displays (M.Sc. dissertation Griffith University, Brisbane).

33 Lack, C, 1939. Diary of Death. The Sunday Mail 19 March 1939.

34 Vernon, D.P., 1964. Some aspects of bird and mammal mounting. Kalori 31: 69-73.

35 Shapcott, T.W., 1960. Finches. In Time on Fire (Jacaranda Press, Brisbane).

36 Cannon, L, 1978. Humour in Museums. Kalori 55: 12-13.

37 Mather, P. (ed.), 1975. The National Estate, Moreton and Wide Bay-Burnett

Regions (Queensland Museum, Brisbane).

38 Wixted, E.P., 1980. Southern Cross Minor. History and Technology Leaflet no.8

(Queensland Museum, Brisbane).

39 Welcome Swallows. Queensland Museum Information Leaflet 83/15.

5 DIAGOLUE

1 Marks, E.N., 1960. A history of the Queensland Philosophical Society and the

Royal Society from 1859 to 1911. Proc R. Soc Qd 71(2) pp.17-42.

2 Government Gazette 7 October 1871: vol.l2(99), p.1455; 6 January 1872:

vol.l3(l); 4 January 1873: vol.l4(2).

3 Secretary, Department of Public Health to Under Secretary Chief Secretary's

Department, 15 May 1919 (QMA correspondence).

4 Queensland Museum Attendance Books.

5 Annual Report Queensland Museum 1876. VP 1877: vol.3, pp.1167.

6 The Brisbane Courier 2, 3, 4 and 18 March 1876.

7 Annual Report Queensland Museum 1886. VP 1887.

8 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 22 December 1900.

9 Longman to Under Secretary, 2 January 1918 (QMA correspondence inward

and outward 1918 18/003).

10 The Brisbane Courier Friday 8 September 1871.

11 The Brisbane Courier Saturday 9 September 1871.

12 K.T. Staiger to Secretary for Public Works, 2 June 1873 (QSA NOR/A66, 68 & 69).

13 EX. Anthony to Hamlyn- Harris, 24 February 1911 (QMA correspondence

inward 1911 11/121).

14 Manager Prince Alfred Mine Sunnybank to Hamlyn-Harris, 7 June 1912 (QMA 12/

1217).

336

15 The Town Clerk, City of Brisbane to Director, Queensland Museum, 16 February

1915 (QMA correspondence inward 00137/15),

16 Mack, C, 1950. Corals and the Great Barrier Reef (The Queensland Museum,

Brisbane) 12pp.
Mack, G., 1959. Centenary of Queensland Historical Exhibition (S.G. Reid
Government Printer, Brisbane).

17 Pearn, J., 1981. Animal Toxins and Man (Division of Health, Education and

Information, Brisbane).

18 Bevington to H.C. Butler. 23 September 1939 (QMA).

19 Longman to E.G. Roper, Deputy Director, Young Australia League, 4 July 1939

(QMA).

20 Bevington's Annual Report, 19 December 1939 (QMA).

21 Minden School Committee to Bevington, 13 Julv 1940; Director to K. Wheatley, 18

March 1941; Director to Cameron's Pocket School, 1 April 1941 (QMA
correspondence).

22 Hodge to S.W. Ryan, 25 September 1970 (QMA Ed24/2644/70\

23 Hodge to A.E. Grandson, 5 Julv 1974 (QMA Ed24/3/34).

24 Dale to J. Allen, 20 June 1975 (QMA Ed24/4/6).

6^ ML THAT GLITTERS

1 Woods, J.T., 1964. C. D'Oyly H. Aplin, first government geologist for the

southern distnct of Queensland. Mem. Qd Mus. 14(4): 107-114.

2 Queenslayut Parliamentary Debates 1869: Series 3, p.354-70,

3 Sanker, I.S., 1977. Queensland in the 1860's. The photography of Richard

Daintfee, Queensland Museum Booklet No. 10.

4 VP 1870: Legislative Assembly, p.167.

5 VP 1872: Legislative Assembly, p.587-91.

6 Blue Book 1873. In VP: p.44.

7 Staiger to Hon. W.H. Walsh, 2 June 1873 (QSA).

8 Daintree to Staiger, 16 Mav 1873 (QSA).

9 Bartley to Colonial Secretary. 21 June 1874 (QSA COL/A191).

10 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 18 July 1877. 9 August 1877

11 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 3 December 1872.

12 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 7 November 1882, 12 November 1883.

13 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 6 May 1884.

14 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 22 January 1885.

15 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 1 April 1885.

16 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 10 July 1885.

17 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 4 June 1886.

18 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 2 September 1887

19 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 5 October 1888.

20 Quemsland Museum Board Minutes 3 February 1888.

21 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 4 January 1889.

22 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 1 February 1889.

23 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 4 December 1891 ■

24 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 4 March 1892.

25 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 19 June 1893.

26 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 6 July 1894.

27 Quemsland Museum Board Minutes 5 April 1897.

28 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 9 December 1899.

29 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 26 July 1902.

30 Etheridge, R. jnr, 1910. Manuscript report to the Premier of Queensland (QSA

PRE A337 6144 19.10).

31 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 28 February 1903.

32 Registrar, University of Queensland to Hamlyn-Harris, 24 April 1911 (QMA

correspondence inward 11/242).

33 Longman to Dr H.C. Richards, 7 May 1918 (QMA correspondence inward and

outward 18/164).

7 THE RECORD IN THE ROCKS

1 Moyal, A.M., 1976. Scientists in nineteenth century Australia; a documentary

history (Cassell Australia Ltd, North Melbourne) 280pp.

2 Rich, P.V. et al. f 1982. An all too brief and superficial history of Australian

vertebrate palaeontology. In P. Rich and E.M, Thompson (eds) Fossil Vertebrate
Record of Australasia, pp. 2-26. (Monash Offset Printing, Melbourne).

3 Bennett, G.» 1872. A trip to Queensland in search of fossils. Ann. Mag. nat

/*sr.(4)9(52): 314.

4 Transactions of the Philosophical Society of Queensland,

5 Anon, 1888. Public Men and Industries (Brisbane).

337

ti Chiaholm, A.. 1944. The Story of Elizabeth Gould (The Hawthorne Press,
Melbourne) 74pp.

7 Cilento, R. and 1-ack, C 1959. Triumph in the Tropics (Historical Committee

Centenary Celebrations Council of Queensland, Smith & Raterson Pty. Ltd.,
Brisbane).

8 Nicholson, C., 1812. On a fossil tree imbedded in the banks of the Brisbane

River, NSW. Proc geoi Soc 4: 23.

9 Branagan, D.. 1975. Samuel Stutchbun and Reverend W.K Clarke. Not Quite

Equal and Opposite. In P. Stanbury (ed.) 100 Years of Australian Scientific
Exploration pp.89-98 (Holt, Reinhart and Winston, Sydney).

10 Annual Report ol the Philosophical Society of 'Queensland 1862.

1 1 Wilson, J.S.. 1856. Quart. /. geol, Soc. 12: 283-288.

12 Birmao, W., 1979. Gregory ofRatnwotih (University of Western Australia Press.

Nedlands).

13 Wight, G., 1867. On the appointment of a government geologist for Queensland.

Trans. Phil. Soc. Qd and Queensland Daily Guardian.

14 Mozeley, A., 1965. Richard Daintree (1831-1878), first government geologist of

Northern Queensland. Queensland Heritage 1(2): 11-16.

15 Marks, E.N., 1960. Presidential Address. A History oj the Queensland

Philosophical Society and the Royal Society of Queensland from 1859 to 1911.
Proc R Soc Qd 71(2): 17-42.

16 Palmer, A., 1885. In Annual Report Queensland Museum 1884. VP 1885.

17 Woods, J.T., 1956. The skull of Thytacoleo carnifex. Mem. Qd Mus. 13(2): 125-141

18 Woods, J.T.. 1960. A million vears on the Darling Downs. Australian Museum

Magazine 13(7): 232-234.

19 Woods, J.T., 1964. C. D'Oyly H. Aplin, first government geologist for the

southern district of Queensland. Mem. Qd Mus, 14(4): 107-114 + pljciv.

20 Turner, S M 1982a. British fossils at the Queensland Museum. The Geological

Curator ^{Si. 227-231

21 Turner, Si, 1985 in prep. Nineteenth century' donors to the Queensland

Museum. Geological Curators Group.

22 Rozefelds, A., 1982. A catalogue of ichthyosaur material in the Queensland

Museum (manuscript, Geology Section, Queensland Museum) 17pp.

23 Jack, R.L, 1922. Northmost Australia (George Robertson & Co., Melbourne), 2

vols. 768pp.

24 Hann, W.. 1873. Report from Mr W. 1 lann. leader of the northern expedition

party. VP 1873: 1031-1070.

25 Hann, W., 1874. Hann's Expedition in Northern Queensland. Proe R. Geogf.

Soc Load. 18(1), pt 4: 87-107,

26 Gaffney, E,S, and Bartholoinai, A* 1979. Fossil trionychids of Australia. /.

Palaeont. 53: 1354-1360.

27 Strahan, R., 1979. Rare and Curious Specimens. An Illustrated History of the

Australia* Museum 1827-1979 (Australian Museum, Sydney) 173pp.

28 Bennett, G.F.. 1876. Notes of rambles in search of fossil remains on the Darling

Downs. Trans Qd Phil. Soc : 1-10

29 Gregorys AC, 1875, On the geology of part of the district of Wide Bay and

Burnett. Queensland Parliamentary Papers, p.8. VP 1875.

30 Hill, D. ( 1947. Robert Logan Jack: a memorial address. Proc R. Soc Qd 58: 113-

124.

31 de Vis. C.W., 1885. In Annual Report Queensland Museum 1884. VP 1885.

32 de Vis, C.W., 1897. The extinct freshwater turtles of Queensland. Ann. Qd Mus.

: J .-7,

33 Boyd, AJ., 1889. The Earth's History for Boys; or. Geology in Verse (Watson

Ferguson Co., Brisbane).

34 Curheld, W.H.. 1921. Reminiscences of Queensland 1862-1899 (A.H. Frater,

Brisbane).

35 Shirley, J., 1898. Additions to the fossil flora of Queensland, mainly from

Ipswich Trias-Jura System. Bull. Geol. Surv. Qd 7: i-v, 1-25. (Also Geol. Surv.
QdPub.Vm.

36 McKellar, R.G., 1965. A revision of the Mastoids McvlHulus ? australis,

'Granabomnus ? wachsmuthii\ and Itivodocrinus ? carpentert', described by
Ethendge (1892) from the Carboniferous of Queensland. Mem Qd Mus. L4(5):
191-198.

37 Johnston, T.R, 1916. Presidential address. Obituary C.W. De Vis. MA. Proc, R.

Soc Qd 28: 10-17.

38 Jack, R.L and Ethendge, R. jnr, 1892. The geology and palaeontology of

Queensland and New Guinea. Geol. Surv. QdPub. 92: xxxi + 768pp.

39 Ethendge, R. jnr, and Woodward, A.S., 1892. On the occurrence of the genus

Belmostmuus in the Rolling Downs Formation of Central Queensland. Trans.
RSoc, Vict. 2(2): 1-7.

338

40 de Vis, C.W.. 1911. On some Mesozoic fossils. Ann. Qd Mus. 10r 1-1K.

41 de Vis id Bell, J.T., 21 September 1909 (QMA).

42 Herbert, DA. 1954. Memorial Lecture. Heber Albert Longman. Proc. R. Soc. Qd

66(7): 83-88.

43 Longman, HA, 1913. Note on Porthcus mstratis A,S. Woodward. Mem. QdMus.

2: 94-95.

44 Longman, HA. 1932. A new Cretaceous fish. Menu Qd Mus. 10(2): 89-97.

45 Schevill, W.R. to Longman, HA. 4 August 1932 (QMA).

46 Longman, HA, 1915. On a giant turtle from the Queensland Lower Cretaceous.

MemQdMus.Z', 24-29.

47 Longman, H.A., 1924. Some Queensland fossil vertebrates. Mem. Qd Mus. 8:

16-28,

48 Longman, HA. 1927. The giant dinosaur: Rhoetosaurus brownei. Mem. Qd Mus.

9(1): 1-18.

49 Longman, HA, 1933. A new dinosaur from the Queensland Cretaceous Mem*

QdMus. 10(3): 131-144.

50 Longman, HA, 1928. A large jaw of Pallimnarchus pollens, Mem. Qd Mus. 9(2):

158

51 Longman, HA. 1924. Some Queensland fossil vertebrates. Mem. Qd Mus. 7(1):

16-28.

52 Longman, HA. 1921 A new genus of fossil marsupials. Mem, Qd Mus. 7(2): 65-80.

53 Woodward to Longman, 20 October 1934 (Australian Academy of Sciences

Basser Library Archives).

54 Longman. HA. 1929. Paiaeontological notes. Mm. Qd Mus. 9(3): 247-251.

55 Longman, HA. 1912. The Queensland Museum. An historical sketch. The

Queenslander 25 May 1912, p.17.

56 Lack, C, 1936. Musing Round the Museum — Mi Longman is Proud of the

Skeletons in His Cupboard. Courier Mail 10 October 1936.

57 Hill, D., 1981. The first fift v years of the Department of Ge« lit >gy of the

University of Queensland. Pap. Univ. Qd Geoi Dept 10(1); 1-68.

58 "Airner, S., 1985 in press. Vertebrate palaeontology in Queensland. Earth

Sciences History Journal.

59 Hills, E.S.. 1934. Tertiary freshwater fishes from Southern Queensland. Mem.

Qd Mus. 10: 157-174.

60 Hills, E.S.. 1943. Tertiary freshwater fishes and crocodilian remains from

Gladstone and Duaringa, Queensland. Mem. Qd Mus. 12: 95-100.

61 Walkom, A.B., 1916. Note on Nilssonia mucronatum (de Vis). Mem. Qd Mus. 5.

231-232.

62 Walkom, A.B., 1924. On fossil plants from Bellevue, near Esk. Mem. Qd Mus.

8(1). 77-92.

63 Whitebouse, F.W., 1927. Additions to the Cretaceous ammonite fauna of eastern

Australia. Part I. Simbirskitidae, Aconeceratidae, and Parahoplitidae. Mem. Qd
Mus. 9(1): 109-120.

64 Wilkins, C.H., 1926. Undiscovered Australia, betngati account of an expedition to

tropical Australia to collect specimens of the rare native fauna for the British
Museum. 1923 1925 (Ernest Benn Ltd., London),

65 Fletcher, H.O., 1959. A Giant Marine Reptile from the Cretaceous Rocks. <>[

Queensland. Australian Museum Magazine 12: 47-49.

66 Longman, HA to W.R. Schevill. 15 March 1940 (QMA)

67 Schevill, W.R., 1983. pers. comm.

68 Romer, A.S. and Lewis, A.D., 1959. A mounted skeleton of the giant plesiosaur

Kronosaurus. Breviora 112: 1-14.

69 Vernon, D.P.. 1977. Obituary -Thomas Claude Marshall. Mm. Qd Mus. 18(1):

125-126.

70 Schevill, W.R. to Longman, H.A., 1939 various dates (QMA).

71 Woods, J.T., 1958. The extinct marsupial genus Palorchestes Owen. Mem. Qd

Mus. 13(4): 177-194.

72 (Juirk, S. and Archer, M., 1983. Prehistoric Animals of Australia (Australian

Museum, Sydney)

73 Woods, J.T., 1953. Brachyura from the Cretaceous of central Queensland. Mem.

QdMus. 13(1): 50-56.

74 Woods, J.T., 1957. Macrurous decapods from the Cretaceous of Queensland.

Mm. Qd Mus. 13(3): 155-175.

75 Evans, J.W., 1961. Some Upper Triassic Hemiptera from Queensland. Mem. Qd

Mus. 14: 13-23.
Evans, J.W., 1971. Some Upper Triassic Hemiptera from Mount Crosby,
Queensland. Mem. QdMus. 16(1): 145-151.

76 Woods, J.T., undated, manuscript location of types (QMA).

77 Turner, S.. 1982. A catalogue of fossil fish in Queensland. Mem. Qd Mus. 20:

599 611.

339

78 Molnar, R., 1982. A catalogue of fossil amphibians and reptiles in Queensland.

Mem. QdMus. 20: 613-633.

79 Bartholomai, A., 1969. The Lower Cretaceous elopoid Fish Pachyrhizodus

marathonensis (Etheridge Jnr). In K.S.W. Campbell (ed.) Stratigraphy and
Palaeontology, pp.249-263. Essays in honour of Dorothy Hill (Australian
National University Press, Canberra).

80 Wade, M., 1984. Platypterygius australis, an Australian Cretaceous ichthyosaur.

Lethaia 17: 99-113.

81 Thulborn, RA and Wade, M., 1984. Dinosaur trackways in the Winton Formation

(mid-Cretaceous) of Queensland. Mem. QdMus. 21: 413-517.

82 Daintree, R., 1872. Notes on the geology of the colony of Queensland with an

appendix, containing descriptions of fossils by R. Etheridge Esq. and W.
Carruthers. Quart. J. geol. Soc. Lond. 28: 271-360.

83 Warren, AA, and Hutchinson, M.N., 1983. The last labyrinthodont? A new

brachyopoid (Amphibia, Temnospondyli) from the early Jurassic Evergreen
formation of Queensland, Australia. Phil. Trans R. Soc. Lond.FT02 B303
(1113): 1-62.

84 Australia's fantastic time tunnel where the great mammals graze. The Bulletin

(Australia) 28 May 1985, pp.70-9.

8 SCALES, FEATHERS AND FUR

1 Barber, L, 1980. The Heyday of Natural History 1820-1870 (Jonathon Cape,

London).

2 Sparks, J., 1982. The Discovery of Animal Behaviour (Collins, London).

3 Sharpe, R.B., 1906. Birds. In The History of the Collections contained in the Natural

History Departments of the British Museum. II (British Museum of Natural
History, London).

4 'Queensland Philosophical Society. The following paper was read by Mr

Diggles ' Brisbane Courier 2 December 1873, p.3. Later reprinted in

Volume 2 of the Trans QdPhil. Soc. 1877.

5 Anon, 1875. Birds and other Reptiles. Brisbane Courier 3 April 1875, p.3.

6 Rothschild, M., 1983. Dear Lord Rothschild: Birds, Butterflies and History (Balaban,

Philadelphia).

7 Whittell, H.M., 1954. The Literature of Australian Birds: a History and a

Bibliography of Australian Ornithology (Paterson Brokensha, Perth).

8 Chisholm, A.H., 1922. Bird seeking in Queensland. Qd Nat. 3: 66-79, 115-124.

9 Marks, E.N., 1960. A history of the Queensland Philosophical Society and the

Royal Society of Queensland from 1859-1911. Proc. R. Soc. Qd 71: 17-41, pis
1-2.

10 Mack, G., 1956. The Queensland Museum, 1855-1955. Mem. Qd Mus. 13: 107-

124, pl.3.

11 Marks, E.N., 1963. Silvester Diggles— a Queensland naturalist one hundred

years ago. Qd Nat. 17: 15-25.

12 Diggles, S., 1866-1870. Ornithology of Australia (The Author, Brisbane).

13 Annual Report Queensland Museum 1877-8. VP 1878.

14 Gould, J., 1875. The Birds of New Guinea and adjacent Papuan Islands, including

any new species that may be discovered in Australia. Part 1 (The Author, London).

15 Gould, J., 1875. Letter concerning the existence of a new parrot in Queensland.

Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1874: 499-500.

16 Gould, J., 1875. Descriptions of three new species of birds. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.

1875: 314-315.

17 'Queensland Philosophical Society Mr S. Diggles read the following notes on

some new and rare specimens of Australian birds ' Brisbane Courier 5

August 1876, p.3. Later reprinted in Volume 2 of the Trans QdPhil. Soc, 1877.

18 Diggles, S., 1874. Habits olMenura Alberti and a description of four new

Australian birds. Telegraph 2February 1874, p.3. Later reprinted in volume 2 of
the Trans Qd Phil. Soc. 1877.

19 Gregory, A.C., 1877. In Annual Report Queensland Museum 1876.

20 Anon, 1880. The Queensland Museum. The Telegraph May 29 1880.

21 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 1 June 1880.

22 Forshaw, J.M., Fullagar, PJ., and Harris, JUL, 1976. Specimens of the Night Parrot

in museums throughout the world. Emu 76: 120-126.

23 Thickthorn, 1880. The Wonga Wonga. Queenslander 7 August 1880, p.172.

24 de Vis, C.W., 1894. Life. Rep. Aust. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 5: 104-118.

25 de Vis, C.W., 1883. Description of two new birds of Queensland. Proc. Linn. Soc.

NSW. (1)7: 561-563.

26 de Vis, C.W., 1889. Annual report of the Curator to the Trustees of the

Queensland Museum. Queensland Parliamentary Papers CA 17-1889: pp.1-2.

27 The Naturalist, 1889. A new bird. Queenslander 30 March 1889, p.600.

340

30
31

35
36

.38

39
40

•44
45

48
49
50

Strahan, R„ 1979. Rare and Curious Specimens. An Illustrated History of the

Australian Museum 1827-1979 (Australian Museum, Sydney).
Anon, Ogilby, J.D. obituaries. Brisbane Courier 14 August 1925; Daily Mail 14

August 1925.
Ogilby, J.D., 1907. Catalogue of the emydosaurian and testudinian reptiles of

New Guinea. Proc. R. Soc. Qd 19: 1-31.
Loveridge, A., and Shreve, B., 1947. The 'New Guinea' Snapping Turtle {Chelydra

serpentina). Copeia 1947: 120-3.
Troughton to Longman, 21 March 1937 (QMA extract of letter in Neuhauser-

Scott file).
Brass, LJ„ 1953. Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No.68. Summary of the

1948 Cape York (Australia) Expedition. Bull Amer. Mus. Nat Hist. 102: 135-

206.
Troughton to Longman, 13 August 1937 (QMA extract of letter in Neuhauser-

Scott file).
Eventually, in 1973, as Regulations 13A under the Australian Customs Act 1901-

1971, the provisions that the Australian Museum and Longman had sought to

ensure the return of type specimens of the Australian fauna to Australia were

introduced in respect of insects, spiders and ticks. In 1982 the regulation was

repealed and its powers were extended to all groups of the Australian biota

under the Wildlife Protection (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act 1982.
Mathews to Longman, 19 March 1937 (QMA Neuhauser-Scott file).
Under Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Stock to Neuhauser, 30 August 1937

(QMA copy of letter in Neuhauser-Scott file).
Neuhauser to Longman, 4 December 1937 (QMA Neuhauser-Scott file).
Longman to Under Secretary, Department of Agriculture on Stock, 23 August

1937 (QMA copy of letter in Neuhauser-Scott file).
Longman to Tate, 14 September 1937 (QMA copy of letter in Neuhauser-Scott file).
Tate to Longman, 11 October 1937 (QMA extract in Neuhauser-Scott file).
Longman to Troughton, 14 September 1937 (QMA copv of letter in Neuhauser-
Scott file).
Neuhauser to Longman, 23 February 1938 (QMA Neuhauser-Scott file).
Under Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Stock to Neuhauser, 29 April 1938

(QMA copy of letter in Neuhauser-Scott file).
Longman to Neuhauser, 10 June 1938 (QMA copy of letter in Neuhauser-Scott

file).
Neuhauser to Longman, 18 June 1938 (QMA Neuhauser-Scott file).
The specimen — QM J6357— that Neuhauser sent to Longman from Mt.

Spurgeon, believing it to be Pseudocheirus peregrinus, was, indeed, a different

species. It is a specimen of P. herbertensis cinereus Tate, 1952 — a new

subspecies that Tate described from specimens that he collected in 1948.

Pseudocheirus taniginosus is now known to be a synonym of P. peregrinus.
Perhaps they did fly— Tree Kangaroos never have been recorded from Cape

York north of the Laura Basin.
Longman to Neuhauser, 16 July 1938 (QMA copy of letter in Neuhauser-Scott file).
Neuhauser to Longman, 22 July 1938 (QMA Neuhauser-Scott file).
The Cuscus that puzzled Neuhauser was Phalanger orientalis, previously

collected from Cape York by Darlington.
Mathews, G.M. and Neumann, 0., 1939. Six new races of Australian birds from

north Queensland. Bull. Brit. Orn. CI. 59: 153-155.
Mathews, G.M., 1941. Two new subspecies of birds collected by Dr. Scott at Cape

York. Emu 40(4): 384.
Mack, G., 1953. Birds from Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. Mem. Qd Mus.

131: 1-39.
Filmer, L, 1944-8. Manuscript diary (QMA).
Covacevich, J., 1971. Amphibian and reptile type specimens in the Queensland

Museum. Mem. Qd Mus. 16: 49-67.
Ingram, GJ. and Covacevich, J., 1981. Frog and reptile type specimens in the

Queensland Museum, with a checklist of frogs and reptiles in Queensland.

Mem. QdMus. 20: 291-306.
Annual Reports Queensland Museum 1974-86.

9 SINGLE CELLS TO SPINY SHELLS

1 Staiger to Minister for Public Works, 2 June 1873 (QSA Department of Public

Works inward correspondence 2168, 2169).

2 Marks, E.N., 1963. Silvester Diggles— a Queensland naturalist one hundred

years ago. Qd Nat. 17: 15-25.

3 Marks, E.N., 1960. A history of the Queensland Philosophical Society and the

Royal Society of Queensland from 1859 to 1911. Proc. R. Soc. Qd 71: 17-42.

341

4 Queensland Museum Board Minutes, 16 April 1877

5 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 20 August 1880.

6 Musgrave, A., 1932. Bibliography of Australian Entomology 1775-1930 (Royal Zool.

W-., NSW) 380pp.

7 Miskin, W.H., 1876. On a new and remarkable species of Attacus. Trans, enl. Sac.

Lond. 1876(1); 7-9.

8 Miskin, W.H., 1891 §j nonymicaJ catalogue ol the Lepidoptera Rhopalocera

(Butterflies) of Australia with full bibliographic reference; including
descriptions of some new species. Ann. Qd Mus. 1: 1-93.

9 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 7 December 1888.

10 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 2 August 1889.

11 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 11 April 1890.

12 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 2 May 1890.

13 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 8 March 1892.

14 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 1 May 1883.

15 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 7 November 1882.

16 Queensland Museum Hoard Mmules I July 1884.

17 Meston, A.. 1889. Report on the government scientific expedition to the

Bellenden Ker Range (Wooroomoran), North Queensland- Queensland
Parliamentary Papers CA 95.

18 Mackerras, I.M. and Maries, E.N., 1974. In retrospect: the insects nod the

entomologists. In Changing Patterns in Entomology pp.3- 10 (Jubilee
Publication of the Entomological Society of Queensland, Brisbane).

19 White. C.T.. 1945. Henry Tryon - First Honorary Secretary, Royal Society of

Queensland, and his place in Queensland Science. Broe. R. Soc Qd 56:" 77-80.

20 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 5 September 1882.

21 Tryon to de Vis, 21 November 1882 (QMA correspondence inward 1882).

22 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 1 May 1883.

23 Tryon, H.. 1889. Report on insect and fungus pests No.l, pp.1 -238 (Department of

Agriculture, Brisbane).

24 Tryon to de Vis. 16 November 1888 (QMA correspondence 1888).

25 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 29 July 1899.

26 Queensland Museum Board M mutes 4 January 1889.

27 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 3 March 1888.

28 Queensland Museum Board Minutes I February 1889.

29 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 6 March 1889.

30 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 5 April 1889.

31 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 2 August 1889.

32 Natural History Society of Queensland, Report of Council and President's

Address for the year 1892 (issued 19 January 1893).

33 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 3 July 1891.

34 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 1 October 1891.

35 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 5 October 1899.

36 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 6 May 1899.

37 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 28 March 1903.

38 Etheridge, R. jnr. 1910. Manuscript report to the Premier of Queensland (QSA

PRE A337 6144 19,10).

39 Hamiyn-Harris to Wild, 30 March 1911 (QMA correspondence inward 1911 11/

40 Wild to Hamlyn-Harris, letters dated 1 April, 10 April, 15 Mav. 26 Maw 30 May

of 1911 (QMA correspondence inward 1911 11/184, 11/207.' 11/291. 11/308, 11/
313).

41 Woodford Police to Hamlyn-Harris, 14 June 191 1 (QMA correspondence inward

1911).

42 Hamlyn-Harris to Under Secretary, 14 June 1911 (QMA correspondence outward

1911 11/345).

43 Hamlyn-Harris to T.L. Bancroft (QMA correspondence outward 1911).

44 Bancroft, T.L, 1908. List of the mosquitoes of Queensland, with the original

descriptions and notes on the life history of a number. Ann. Qd Mus. 8: 1-64.

45 Carter to Hamlyn-Harris, 16 Mav 1911 (QMA correspondence inward, 1911 11/

295).

46 Hamlyn-Harris to Carter (QMA correspondence outward 1911 11/298).

47 Carter to Hamlyn-Harris, 17 October 1911 (QMA correspondence inward 1911

11/629).
43 Tillyard to Hamlyn Harris. 14 November 1911 (QMA correspondence inward
1911 11/695).

49 Girault to Hamlyn-Harris (QMA correspondence inward 1911, various letters).

50 Girault, AA, 1912. Australian Hvmenoptera Chalctdotdea, Parts l-\l\. Mem. Qd

Mus. 1:66-189.

342

51 Turner to Hamlyn-Harris, 2 December 1912 (QMA correspondence inward).

52 Proggatt to Hamlyn-Harris, 8 Match 1915 I.QMA correspondence inward).

53 bahms, EX., 1978. A i :to d Australian Hymenoptera described

by Alexandre Arsene Girault: t. Introduction, acknowledgements, biography,
bibliography and localities. Mem. Qd Mus. 19: 127-190.

54 Marks, E.N.. 1973. Henry Hacker (1876-1973). Ent. Soc. Qd Afews Bull. 100; 13-16.
►3 Hacker, H., 1907. An entomologist's cycling trip to Cloncurry (Queensland).

Tasmanian Nat 1:12

56 Marks, E.N., 1974. Obituary -Henrv Hacker 1876-1973. Mem. Qd Mus. 17: 191-

194.

57 Hamlyu-Harris to Under Secretary, 13 February 1911 (QMA correspondence

outwards 1911).

58 Hacker, H., 1932. A new species of Peloridiidae from Queensland. Qd agric J. 37;

262-263.

59 Hacker, H,. 1921. Catalogue of Australian bees. Mem. Qd Mus. 7: 99-163.

60 Mackerras, I.M., 1949. Alfred Jeffenes Turner and amateoT entomology ID

Australia. Proc. R. Soc. Qd 60: 69-87.

61 Dahms, E.C., 1983, 1984, 1986. A checklist of the types of Australian

Hymenoptera described by Alexandre Arsene Girault: 11- tV. Mem. Qd Mus.
21:1-255,579-842,22(3):

62 Osborn, F.G.B.. 1931. Obituary-- Alfred Eland Shaw. Proc. Lrnn. Soc NSW 57: 4.

63 Dahms, E.G., 1972. Type-specimens of cockroaches (Blattodea) in the Queensland

Museum. Mm. QdMus. 16: 273-289.

64 Tryon, &, 1929. Rowland Midge. Qd Nat. 7; 13-19.

65 Queensland Museum Board Minute* 19 J.tnuarv 1877.

m Adoo, 1936. Obituary-Charles Hedlev. Proc Linn. Soc. NSW 61: 209-220.
67 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 2 August 1889; 6 December 1889.
63 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 7 February 1890.

69 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 11 April 1890.

70 Queensland Museum Hoard Minutes X July 1890.

71 Banfield Lo Hamlyn-Harris, 25 September 1911 (QMA correspondence inward

1911 11/590). '

72 Bertha Banfield to Charles Hedley, 17 September L923 (copy in QMA»

73 Hedley to Longman, 7 October 1923 (.QMA correspondence inward 1923)

74 Shirley to Hamlyn-Harris, 20 August 1915 (QMA correspondence inward 191531

75 Brisbane Telegraph 5 April 1922. Obituary of John Shirley.

76 Fiimer, L, 1944-47. Manuscript diary (QMA).

77 Sprent, J., 1972. Josephine Mackerras obituary. Ink motional Journal of

Parasitology 2: 181-185.

78 Ibwnsville Doty Bulletin Beachcomber, 30 May 1914; editorial, 9 June 1914;

Brisbane Daily Standard 29 June 1914

79 Great Barrier Reef Committee Minutes of first meeting, 15 September 1922 < UQA

S/226).

80 Hill, U. 1985. The Great Barrier Reef Committee: tni fat R*C

Aust. Sa. 6(1): 18pp.

81 Stephenson. W. and Wells, J.W., 1955- The corals of Low Isles, Queensland. Pap.

Pep. Zool. Univ. Qd 1(4): 1-59.

82 Wallace, C. 1978. The coral genus Acropora (Scleractinia : Astrocoenima :

Acroparidae) in the ccnrral and southern Great Barrier Reef Province. Mem
QdMus, SO: 273-319.

83 Vernon, J.E.N. and Wallace, C, 1984. Scleractinia of eastern Australia Part V,

Familv Acroparidae. Australian Institute of Marine Seienee Monograph Series li:
1-446 + 24 pis.

84 Eodean, R., Stephenson, W. and Kenny, R., 1956. The ecology and distribm ion i i

intertidal organisms on certain islands off the Queensland coast. Am*? /. mar.
Freshw.Res. 7(3): 317-342,

85 Annual Reports of the Queensland Museum 1974-86.

86 Kott, P., 1985. The Australian Ascidiacea part 1, Phlebobranchia and

Stoudobranchia.Aftw. QdMus. 23: 1-440.

87 Endean, R.. 1953-65. Queensland faunistic records III, IV. Vll, VIII. Pap. Dep.

Zool Univ. Qd 1: 53-60, 121-40, 289-98; 2: 224-38.

88 Rente, D.L.F.. 1980. A new family of ersitferous Orthoptera from the coastal

sands of south east Queensland. Mem. Qd Mus. 20: 49

10 PEOPLES AND LIFESTYLES
1 Piggot. P.H M Blainey, G.N., Boswell, R.W., Clayton, A., Mulvaney, D.J., Talbot, F.H.,
Waterhouse, D.F., Waters, F.J., Payne, E.E.. 1975. Museums in Australia, Report of
tin Committee of hu/uiry on museums and national collections including the
Report of the Planning Committee on the Gallery of Aboriginal Australia p.10
(Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra).

:>43

2 Rannie, D., undated. El hnological appendix. In By Surf-Beat Rocks and Coral

Strands p.l. (manuscript, Anthropology Must-urn, University of Queensland).

3 Douglas to de Vis, 29 May 1887 (QMA).

4 Musgrave to de Vis, 28 May 1888 <QMA).

5 Douglas to de Vis, 2V) May 18&S tQMA).

6 Joyce, R.B., 1971- Sir William MucGn-gor (Oxford University Press, Melbourne).
William MacGregor was a crofter's son born in 1846 in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

MacGregor studied medicine al Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh
Universities graduating in 1872. He joined the colonial service and was posted
to the Seychelles and Mauritius where he undertook administrative as well as
medical duties. Transferred to Fiji in 1875 he became increasingly a colonial
administrator rather than a doctor during the next 13 years. He became
administrator of British New Guinea in September 1888. an appointment in
part due U> the support of Sir Samuel Griffith, premier oi Queensland. He was
knighted in 1889 and he served in New Guinea until 1898. He was governs of
Queensland (1909-1914), an appointment he took up after being successively
goVefnO] of LagOS, and Newfoundland. He had presented his private
anthropological collection (including 2065 items from Papua) to the
Anthropological Museum at Marischal College, University of Aberdeen. A
printed catalogue of this collection was published in 1912. He died in 1919.

7 MacGregor Lo the Governor. Sir Henry Norman, 14 August 1889. Despatch No.53

(QSA).

8 MacGregor to the Governor. Sir Henry Norman. 28 October 1895. Despatch

No.55 (QSA).

9 MacGregor, W., 1897- British New Guinea p.88 (John Murray, London).

10 Pranks to Ripon. 15 June 1893. Letter enclosed in Despatch No.13, 23 June 1893

(QSA).

11 de Vis to Culonial Secretary, 28 August 1893 (QMA).

12 MacGregor to the Governor, Sir Henry Norman, 12 October 1895. Despatch

No.55 (QSA).

13 Chief Secretary to the Governor. Lord Lammgton. 5 November 1896 (QSA).

14 Chief Secretary to Governor, Lord Lamington. 24 November 1895: pp.443-9 (QSA

Gov/ A J U

15 MacGregor to the Governor. Lord Lamington. 4 January 1897. Despatch

No.2 (QSA).

16 Meston, A.. 12 j uly 1919 Brisbane Matt.

17 Roth to de Vis, 15 April 1900 (QMA).

18 Hansard 16 October 1903: p.777; 10 October 1905; pp.1070, 1188; 17 November

L905: p.ioTl; 13 December 1905: p.2116; 14 December 1905: p.2154;"28
August 1906: pp.432-4; 13 November 1906; pp.1653-72.

19 Specht, R., 1975. In Strahan, R (ed.) Ram and Curious Specimens. An Illustrated

History nfthr Australian Museum 1827-1979 p. 144 (The Australian Museum,
Sydney >.

20 H. Malone . Townsville to Hamlyn-Harns, 17 February 3911 (QMA 11/84).

21 G. McGrath, Longreach to Hamiyn-Harris. 21 February 1911 (QMA 11/93).

22 Hamryn-Harris to j.H.P. Murray, 18 September 1913 (QMA 13/727).

23 Etheridge, R. jnr, 1910. Manuscript report to the Chief Secretaiy on the state of

the Queensland Museum, p.G (QSA PRE A337 6144 19.10).

24 Hamiyn-Harris, R. and Smith, F., 1916. On the fish poisoning and poisons

employed among the Aborigines of Queensland. Mem. (Jd Mus. 5: 1-22.

25 Longman to A.C. Haddon, 3 December 1919 (QMA 19/00351).

26 Longman to Secretarv, Home and Territories Department. 9 July 1918 (QMA 18/

00272).

27 Illidge to Longman. 9 July 1918 (QMA 00325),

28 Longman to Secretary, Home and Territories Department, 3 December 1918

(QMA 18/00441).
39 l-oogman to Secretary, Home and Territories Department, 26 July 1919 (QMA

19/00227).
M0 Acting Secretaiy, Home and Territories Department to Longman, 1 August 1919

(QMA 00273).

31 The British structural functional school, which emphasized the study of the

structure and Junction of the social organisation of any particular group rather
than the material evidence of its lifestyle, dominated Australian anthropology.
Museum anthropology was left stranderl, isolated from the mainstream of
anthropological thought lor the next fifty years.

32 Malinowski, B,. 1935. Coral Gardens, and their Magic p.460 (American Book

Company, New York).

33 Longman to Chasehng, 2 September 1940 (QMA outward correspondence).

34 Longman to J.K. Murray. 20 March 1945 (QMA outward correspondence).

35 HaJe to Longman. 19 May 1944 (QMA inward correspondence 204).

36 Mack to Reynolds, 6 December 1956 (QMA inward correspondence 883).
Woods to Wright, 11 December 1965 (QNL

38 Queensland Museum Annual Repot! 1972: p.10.

39 Morwood, M.J., 1984. The Prehistory of the Central Queensland Highlands.

Advance* in World Archaeology 3: 338.

40 Robins. R.P., 1980. Wood Identification of Spearthrowers in the Queensland

Museum Ethnographic Collection: An Evaluation. University of Queensland
Occasional ftipen in Anthropology 10: 61.

11 MAN AND MACHINES

1 Transactions Philosophical Society of Queensland, 1, 1859-1872.

2 Etheridge, R. jnr, 1910. Manuscript report to Premier of Queensland (QSA PRE

A3376144 19.10).

3 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 17 October 1884, Special Meeting.

4 Daintree to Staiger, June 1873 (QSA WOR 466 68 and 69).

5 First Inventory. Queensland Museum 1875-6, Signed by A.c ( i eg i v and W.i I

Miskin (QMAi.

6 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 4 September 1883.

7 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 30 April 1904.

8 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 18 November 1880.

9 de Vis to the Hon. the Minister for Works, 3 November 1KM1 (QMA).

10 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 10 July 1885.

11 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 3 June 1887.

12 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 4 June 1886.

13 Queensland Musrum Board Minutes 5 May 1888

14 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 7 December 1888.

15 Queensland Museum Board Minules 7 December 1894.

16 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 9 April 1895.

17 Thomas, L, 1966. Bought Jones, $4.15s. The Bulletin 9 April 1966.

18 Queensland Musi urn Board Minute;* 29 August 1903.

19 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 26 September 1903.

20 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 7 August 1885.

21 Australian Museums Directory 1972. pp.49. 104 (Australian National Committee

for the International Council ol Museums. Canberra).

22 Uoyd CJ. and Sekuiess P,. 1980. Australia's National Collections pp. 14 1-2

(tassel! Australia, N.S.W).
23
24

25
26

29
30
31

Allwood, J., 1977. The Great Exhibitions p.71 tStudio Vista, London).

Longman to Cumbrae Stewart, 3 June 1918 (QMA correspondence outward 18/

002371.
Longman to Registrar 118 (QMA correspondence outward 18/00239).

Jack, R.L. 1922. Northmost Australia Vol.1. Chapter 30 (George Robertson and

Co., Melbourne).
Meldrum to I he Secretary, National Museum Brisbane. 5 May 1937 (QMA 199A).
Longman to Meldrum, 13 May 1937 (QMA)
Longman to Meldrum, 24 June 1937 (QMA).
Roberts to Richards. 4 September 1937 (QMA 457).
Longman to D. O'Shea, 7 September 1937 (QMA).
Organisations supporting die development of a technological museum

included: The Chamber of Commerce, Chamber of Manufactu

Australasian Institute Of Mining and Metallurgy (Inc.), Institution of
Engineers Australia. Master Builders 1 Association, Illuminating Engineering
Society. Royal Australian Chemical Institute. Electrical and Radio Federation
(Queensland). Queensland Electrical Institute. Institute of Optometrists,
Electrical Contractors' Association, Royal Australian Institute of Arch
Motor Mechanics' Institute of Queensland, Institute of Radio Engineers.
Australian Welding Institute, Refrigeration Engineering Society, and Model
Engineers' Society.

Handbook 1967-8 (Queensland Hall of Science Industry and Health
Development Committee. Brisbane i.

Annual Reports Queensland Museum 1972-85.

12 PANDORA'S BOX

1 Mctotyre, K.G., 1977. The Secret Discover}' of Australia (Souvenir Press,

Australia).

2 Beaglehoie, J.C., 1934. The Exploration *n tlv Bae$e(A HldC Black, London}.

3 Marden, L, 1985. Wreck of HMS Pandora National Geographic 168(4): 425-451.

4 Self Contained Underwater Diving Apparatus (SCUBA)

5 List of donors for maritime archaeology projects. Annual Report of the

Queensland Museum 1984. p.29.

343

6 Costin, Office of the Chief Protector of Aboriginals, Thursday Island to

Director, Queensland Museum, 1 May 1906 and 28 June 1906 (QMA inward
correspondence 1906).

13 THE NECESSARY SCIENTIFIC WORKS

1 Staiger to Hon. W.I I Walsh, 2 June 1873 (QSA, copv QM).

2 Staiger to Hoa W H. Walsh, 2 August 1873 (QSA, copy QM).
Bailey, F.M., 1 September 1879. Annual Report Queensland Museum. VP 1880.
Annual Report Queensland Museum 1876. VP 1877.
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 20 September 1877.
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 19 February 1877.
Queensland Museum Bt/oed Minutes 19 February 1878.
Colonial Secretary to Director, Queensland Museum, 7 August 1879 (QMA).
Letter. 9 March 1878. In Annual Report Queensland Museum 1877-8. VP 1878.
Annual Report Queensland Museum 1878-1879. VP 1879.
Annual Report Queensland Museum 1877-1878, Appendix 5. VP 1878.
Published references, as for instance Brisbane Courier 10 January 1884, p 5.
Williams and Norgate to Queensland Museum. 28 May 1880 (QMA

correspondence inward 1880).
Annual Report Queensland Museum 1879-80. VP 1880.
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 20 January 1879.
D. O'Donovan to the Curator, 7 September 1880 (QMA correspondence inward

1880).
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 19 October 1881.
Queensland Mnseum Board Minutes 28 October 1881
Annual Report Queensland Museum 1881-1882. VP 1882.
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 7 November 1882.

I Jund Museum Board Minutes 23 May 1882.
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 5 November 1882.
Annual Report Queensland Museum 1882. VP 1883.
Annual Report Queensland Museum 1883. VP 1884.
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 4 December 1883.
Marks, E.N., 1960. A history of the Queensland Philosophical Society and the

Royal Society of Queensland from 1859 to 191 L froc. R. Soc Qd 71(2):

17-42, 2pl&
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 7 March 1884, 5 September 1884.
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 16 October 1884.
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 5 December 1884.
Annual Report Queensland Museum 1886. VP 1887.
Annual Report Queensland Museum 1884, VP 1885.
Annua! Report Queensland Museum 1887. VP 1888. Queensland Museum Board

Minutes 3 March 1887.

33 Queensland Museum Board Minutes April 1886: Wm Dymock of Sydney; 1 July

1887: Angus & Robertson; 3 February 1888: J.H. Thompson.

34 Annual Report Queensland Museum 1889, VP 1890.

35 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 4 January 1889.

36 Pugh 8 Almanac (John Oxley Library).
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 5 December 1890.
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 4 September 1883.
Brisbane Conner 8 January 1884.
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 2 September 1887.
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 4 November 1892.
Annual Report Queensland Museum 1891. VP 1892.
Queensland Museum Board Minutes b" September 1889.
Exercise book containing notations, not otherwise described. In Queensland

Museum history' box (QMA).
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 2 September 1895.
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 2 December 1890.
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 19 June 1893.
Queensland Museum Board Minuter, 4 August 1883.
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 3 November 1893, 13 April 1896.
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 9 June 189.'.!.
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 7 April 1893.
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 9 April 1895, 5 July 1897.
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 6 January 1896, 4 November 1895.
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 28 July 1900.
Queensland Museum Board Minutes 30 September 1899.

346

56 EA Lower to Trustees, Brisbane Museum, 30 September 1899 (QMA

Applications for Employment 1899 no.5908).

57 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 30 October 1899.

58 Under Secretary Dept Public Instruction to C.W. de Vis, curator, 18 February

1901 (QMA correspondence inward 1901).

59 Under Secretary, Dept Public Instruction to C.W. de Vis, Director, 27 June 1902, 1

July 1902 (QMA correspondence inward 1902).

60 Queenslander 10 May 1902.

61 E. Lower, Chatswood to H. Longman, Director, 11 January 1918 (QMA

correspondence inward 1918).

62 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 29 July 1901.

63 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 30 April 1904.

64 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 25 June 1904.

65 Last trace of Queensland Museum Board Minutes — loose sheets.

66 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 27 April 1907.

67 Hamlyn-Harris to C. Wild, 6 October 1910 (QMA correspondence inward 1910).

68 V. Chambers, Clerk to C.J. Wild, Acting Director, 11 May 1910 (QMA

correspondence inward 1910).

69 de Vis' mother's maiden name was Chambers. This may have given rise to the

rumour of a relationship that was current in the museum at this time.

70 Etheridge, R. jnr, 1910. Manuscript report to the Queensland premier on the

museum (QSA PRE A 337 6144 19.10).

71 CJ. Wild to Director, 10 April 1911 (QMA correspondence inward 1911).

72 Hamlyn-Harris to Under Secretary, Chief Secretary's Office, 31 January 1911

(QMA correspondence outwards 1911).

73 Under Secretary, Chief Secretary's Office to the Director, 20 October 1911 (QMA

correspondence inward 1911).

74 Douglas Rannie to Premier, 30 July 1913 (QMA correspondence inward 1913).

75 Robert John Cuthbert Butler MLA for Lockyer 16 March 1918 to 9 October

1920. Queensland Parliamentary Handbook.

76 Newspaper report in Queensland Museum Cutting Book 2.

77 Longman to Under Secretary, Chief Secretary's Department, 26 September 1929

(QMA correspondence outward 1931).

78 Staff file K.K. Watson (QMA).

14 MEN OF GOODWILL

1 Marks, E.N., 1960. A history of the Philosophical Society and the Royal Society of

Queensland from 1859 to 1911. Proc. R. Soc. Qd 71(2): 17-42, 2 pis.

2 Coxen to the Hon. the Secretary of Lands, 18 February 1874 (QSA G149/3).

3 Mines Dept. Memoranda 76.152M and 76.159M (QSA AGS/N342).

4 Executive Council Minute 76/9 on 76.213M (QSA AGS/N342).

5 Letterbook Mines Dept., Outward Letters 76.22 in MIN/G2, p.325 (QSA).

6 Further details of their careers in the indicated publications:
COXEN: 3ADB; Waterson Biographical Register.
DOUGLAS: 4ADB; Waterson Biographical Register.

FENWICK: Queenslander 21 July 1900; Johnston, R., 1970, 'John Fenwick' in

Queensland Heritage 2(3): 21.
GREGORY: 4ADB; Waterson Biographical Register.
LUKIN: 5ADB.

RAFF: 6ADB; Waterson Biographical Register,
MISKIN: reference 32 below.

7 76.805M of 7 June 1876 with Executive Council Minute 76/32 endorsed (QSA

AGS/N342).

8 For further details of his career in: 3ADB; Medical Journal of Australia 4

February 1961; Sprent. J., 1972, Obituary of Dr Josephine Mackerras in The
International Journal of Parasitology 2: 181-185.

9 The whole matter of noxious gases emanating from the museum may have

orginated from Staiger himself— who, in a letter to the minister for Public

Works 2 August 1873, wrote:

I have to draw your attention to the fact that the present
locality and state of the laboratory will not allow me to
carry out assays or experiments which can only be done
by aid of furnaces or machine power, or which would
involve danger of fire or create obnoxious gases.
(QSA G149/3).

10 Queensland Museum Board Minutes 17 June 1881.

11 Strahan, R„ 1975. Rare and Curious Specimens. An Illustrated History of the

Australian Museum 1827-1979 (Australian Museum, Sydney).

12 Bennett to Sir Richard Owen. Vide Strahan, R., 1975: reference 11, above.

347

13 Moyai, AM., 1970. Sir Richard Owen and his influence on Australian zoological

and palaeontological science. Ree. Austral. Acad. Set, 3 (2): 41-56.

14 Krefft to L.A, Bemays, Queensland Museum Board of Trustees. 11 March 1879

(QMA inward correspondence before 1880).

15 Marks, E.N., 1963- Silvester Diggles— a Queensland Naturalist one hundred

veais old. QdNat. 17(1. 2): 15-25.

16 Further details of their careers in the indicated publications:
O'DOHERTY- 5ADB; Waterson Biographical Register.
BERNAYS: 3ADB; Queensland 1900 (Alcazar Press. Brisbane).

17 with Executive Council minute 78/8 endorsed 6 February 1878, 7&390M (QSA

AGS/N342),

18 Brisbane Conner . 7 March 1879. Queensland Museum Board Minutes 6 March

1879 (QMA).

19 with Ex* UtWe Council minute 79/49 endorsed. 79.768M ajid 79.766B CQSA>,

20 Beniays to the Secretary, the Queensland Museum, 20 May 1879 (QMA inward

correspondence before 1880).

21 5ADB; Waterson Biographical Register.

22 3ADB; Waterson Biographical Register.

23 80.274L of 27 February 1880 with Executive Council minute 80/16 endorsed

JSAAGS/N342).

24 80.1206M oi 18 August 1880 with Executive Council minute 80/52 end<

5A AGS/N342).

25 8L2151B of 31 October 1881 with Executive Council minute 82/62 endorsed

(QSAAG5/N343)

26 5ADB: Waterson Biographical Register.

27 VP 7 October 1880: p.203; 5 November: p.30L

28 2717 PI of 6.5-85 (QSA AGS/N342),
■29 4726 Pi of 11.8.85 (QSA AGS/N342).

30 5ADB, Waterson Biographical Register*

31 5ADB; Waterson Biographical Register; Annual Review ofQld 1902; Brisbane

Courier 12 March 1914.

32 He had left the Public Service in 1878 and taken articles of clerkship on 13

November 1878 with Peter MacPherson, a well known Brisbane solicitor, and
having passed his examinations Mi&kin was admitted as a solicitor on 4
December 1883. He practised in Brisbane in partnership with MacPherson but
in 1892 he began practice in Rwckhampton (QSA SCT/LK12 and Queensland
Law Almanac 1913).

33 Further derails of 'heir carters in the indicated publications:
BLACKMAN: Est. File 370/1906 iQSA); Clarke, C.G.Drury, 1986. FA Blackman

(1835-1906), \nJJL Hist. Sac. Qd 12(2).
GAILEY- Watson, D. and McKay, J., Queensland Architects to 1940, in Occasional

papers oj the Fryer library, University of Queensland 5: 1-236; Est. File No.403/

1924 (QSA).
HODGK1NSON: 4A0B: Wattrson Biographical Register.

34 Letters and memoranda (QSA AGS/N342).

35 Queensland Museum Board Minutes,

36 Covacevich, J„ 1971. Amphibian and reptile type specimens in the Queensland

Museum. Mem Qd Mus. 16: 49-67.

37 Queensland Museum Board Minutes.

38 Memorandum (QSAACS/N.i-U:)

Further details of their careers in the indicated publications:

CAMERON: Waterson Biographical Register.

CHATAWAY: Waterson Biographical Register.

MARKS: Waterson Biographical Register.

SUTTON: Marks, E.N., 1960. A history of the Queensland Philosophical

and the Royal Society of Que* >m 1859 to 1911. in Proc. R. Soc Qd,

71(2): 17-42.

39 Further details of their careers in the indicated publications.

TURNER: 05.12291 O.D. of 14 November 1905 (QSA AGS/N342). Marks, E.N.
and Mackerras, LM. ( 1974, The insects and the entomologists, in Changing
Patterns m Entomology (The Entomological Society of Queensland. Brisbane).

SCRIVEN: PSB File No.505 Unprocessed Materia] Repository 2-H32 (QSA)

40 0.5.13531 G of 15.11.1905 and 05.13744 of 16.11.1905 (QSA AGS/N342).

41 QSAAGS/N342.

42 07.2438 CS of 20.9.1907. 05.12291 OD of 24.9.1907 and 075038 Agnc of

26.9.1907 (QSA AGS/N342V

43 Chief Secretary to Premier of New South Wales, 2 June 1910 (QSA PRE A 337

6144 19.10).

44 Secretary Australian Museum to Under Secretary. Chief Secretary's Office, 14

June 1910, telegram (QSA PRE A337/G144, 19.10)

348

46
47
46

50
51
52
53
54
55

Etheridge, R. jnr, 1910. Manuscript reports to the Premier of Queensland (QSA

PRBA33761*
Kidstoo to Btheridae, VB July 1910 (USA PRE A337 6144 19.10).

Queensland Parliamentary' Debates 1910: vol.106, p.1407.

Under Secretary, Chief Secretary's Department to Longman, 26 April 1929, with

enclosed Report of the Public Service Commissioners on the museum (QMA

correspondence inward and outward 1929/1' I
Longman to the Under Sea-elan. Chief S& i -tment, 13 June 3929

(QMA correspondence inward and outward 1929).
Courier Mail 20 January 1934,

Queensland Government Gazette 22 August. 1970: vol.234, p.2109.
Queensland Parliamentary Debates 1970: vol.253, pp.2515-2530, 2967-2973.

l$nd Government Gazette 1970: \oJ 2
The Telegraph 13 November, 1934.
Director General of Works to Director, Queensland Museum, 23 April 1985;

trtment of Works, Quantity Surveying Branch memorandum 22 April 19M5,

relocation of Queensland Museum (0MA G445/15).
Mather, P. (ed) 1978. The Small Museum —a collection of papers relative to the

establishment, housing and operation of local and regional museums (Queensland

Museum, Brisbane).
Campbell B., Wallace, C. and King, H., 1974. Field Study of Marine littoral

invertebrate mocrofaum from the proposed Brisbane Airport Extension arm. Report

to the Co-ordinator General (Queensland Museum. Brisbane),
Campbell B., Wallace. C, King, R. and Mather. P., 1974. The sublitioral

maerobenthos of the proposed Brisbane Airport Extension area. Report to the Co-

mtinator General (Queensland Museum, Brisbane).
Campbell, B., Monroe, K., Mather, P. and Wallace, C, 1974. The estuanne sublittoral

macrobenihos of south-eastern Queensland: A Preliminary Survey. Report to the

coastal management Investigation (Queensland Museum, Brisbane).
Mather, P., 1975. The National Estate, Moreton. Wide-Bay Burnett Regions. A

report to the Co-ordinator General (Queensland Museum, Brisbane).

15 IN PERPETUITY

1 Flower, W.H. 1898. Museums organisation. Presidential address to the British

Association for the Advancement of Science in Essays on Museums and other
subjects connected with Natural History pp.1-29 (Macmillan & Co.. London).

2 Wittlin, A. S„ 1949. The Museum, its History and its Task in Education (Kegan

Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., London) 297 pp.

3 Caygill, M.. 1981, The Story of the British Museum {British Museum Publications,

London).

4 Hodson, K., 1975. .4 Social History of Museums (Macmillan Press, London).

5 Solomon Da Costa, donor of a collection of Hebrew manuscripts to the British

Museum, to 'the honourable personages appointed and made overseers of the
great and noted treasury called the British Museum' 1876. Vide Caygill M.. 1981
The Story of the British Museum pp.14-5 (British Museum Publications Ltd.,
Lorv '

6 Karp, W., 1965. The Smithsonian Institution (Smithsonian Institution with Editor

a( American Heritage Magazine, Washington D.C).

7 Mather. P.. 1976. Museums, Natural History and Queensland. An account of the

development of the modern museum concept and its application in the jield of
natural science, especially in Queensland (manuscript, Queensland Museum,
Brisbane).

8 Piggort, P.FL, Blarney, G.N., Boswell, R.W M Clayton, A., Mulvancy, D.J., TaJbot, F.H.,

Waterhouse, D.F., Waters, PJ., Payne, E.E.. 1975 Museums m Australia. Repeot of
the Inquiry on Museums and National Collections (Australian Government
Publishing Sen-ice, Canberra), 124 pp.

9 Etheridge, R- jnr, 1910, Manuscript repori to i he Premier of Queensland (QSA

PRE A337 6144 19.10).

10 Annual Report Queensland Museum 1983, pp.4, 5.

11 Parr, A.E., 1959. Moslh about Museums (The American Museum of Natural

History. New York).

APPENDIX 1
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

1 Whitley, C, 1938. John Gould's Associates. Emu 38: 141-167.

2 WhitteU, H.M., 1954. The literature of Australian Birds: a History and a

Bibliography of Australian Ornithology (Paterson Brockensha, Perth.).

3 Hindwood, RA, 1938. Gould in Australia. Emu 38; 95-118.

4 Dickson, X. 1938. Gould's major works. Emu 38; 118-131.

349

5 Anon, 1888 Public Men and Industrie* (Brisbane). ABD: Watersan biographical

6 Cilento, K. and Lack, C, 1959. Triumph in the Tropics (Historical Committee

rrtenary Celebrations Council of Queensland, Smith Paterson and (_<>..
Brisbane).

7 Aurousseau, M. (ed.), 1968. The Letters o/F.W. Luttwig Leichhardt 3 vols

(Cambridge University Press, U.K.).

8 Leichhardt, L, 1847. Journal of an overland expedition in Australia, from MoYtton

Bay to Port Essmgton. a distant of upward if 3.000 miles, during the years IH44-
1845 (London).

9 Marks, E.N., 1960. A history of the Queensland Philosophical Society and the

Royal Society of Queensland from 1859 to L&l 1 Proa R Soc Qd 71(2): 17-42,
2pfs.

10 Coxeo to Hon. Secretary for Public Works. 26 July 1S72 tQSA).

1 1 Mack, G., 1956, The Queensland Museum 18551955. Me»L Qd Mus. 13(2). 106-

124.

12 Karl Theodor Staiger (grandson of Karl Theodor Staiger. custodian 1873-9) to

Queensland Museum, personal communication 1985.

13 Staiger to W.H. Walsh, Secretary for Public Works, 2 June 1873 (QSA).

14 Bailey, F.M. and Staiger. K.T., 1879. An Illustrated Monograph of Queensland

Grasses (Brisbane)

15 Staiger, Death Certificate No.21256, 5 October 1888 (Registrar General.

Queensland).

16 Blue Book, various years 1873-1880. In VP.

17 Webster, E.M., 1984. The Moon Man (Melbourne University Press, Melbourne).
The Queensland Museum had just moved to its new building in William Street

at the time of Miklouho-Maclay's visit, not to the Gregory Terrace building as
Webster implies; and the investigations were conducted in the building just
vacated by the museum — not in the museum.

18 Greenop, F.S., 1944. Who Travels Alone (KG. Murray Publishing Company, Sydney).

19 Queensland Post Office Directories, various years 1880-1888.

20 Queensland Museum Board Minutes, various entires 1876-1888.

21 Staiger-Pearce, Marriage Certificate No.4591, 19 December 1874 (Registrar

General, Quee i liana)

22 Brisbane Courier. Saturday 6 October 1888: p.6.

23 Pike, D. (ed), 1972. 4 ADB 1851-90. D-J (Melbourne University Press),
family documents, de Vis family, held by Dorothea Melloy of Brisbane, great

grand -daughter of Charles Walter de Vis, grand-daughter of Charles James de
Vis of Charters Towers.

24 Tryon, H. Manuscript On the life and ancestors of Charles Walter de Vis; G.H. de

Vis to Tryon, 20 September 1915 (University of Queensland. Fryer Library, St
Lucia. D. 1915 Try. F228).

25 Charles Walter de Vis to the Hon, Minister for Works, 3 November 1881,

Application for curatorship of the museum (QMA).

26 Queensland Museum Correspondence files 1882-93.

27 Johnston, T.H.. 1916. Obituary C.W. de Vis. Proc R $« Qd 28; 1-17

28 Charles Walter de Vis, Death Certificate 30 April 1915 CRegistrai General,

Queensland).

29 Anon, 1904. Mr Charles Syson Devis. Edgbastonia 24(280): 180-9 (Edgbasiun.

Birmingham).

30 Marshall, AJ., 1954. Bower Birds p.135 (Clarendon Press, Oxford).

31 Jones, D,. 1961. Cardwell Shire Story pp.164-178 (Jacaranda Press. Brisbane).

32 Goode, J„ 1977. Rape of the Fly p.123 (Thomas Nelson Australia Ltd.. Melbourne).

33 Davis, E.D., 1976. The Life and Times of Steele Rudd (Lansdowne Press,

Melbourne).

34 Broadbent, K., 1885. On the migration of birds at the Cape York Peninsula

RSoc Qd 1884 1:93-96

35 Meston, Am 1889. Report of the Government Scientific Expedition to Bellenden-Ker

Range (Government Printer, Brisbane).

36 Anon. 1911. Obituary. Kendall Broadbent Emu 11: 62,

37 McCarthy, J.V, to PJ. Mcpermott, Under Secretary, Premier's Office, 21 March

1910 {QSA PRE A337 6144 19.50).

38 Marks, E.N., 1983. Hamlyn-Harris, Ronald. ADB 1891-1939, raLA, 0,177.

39 Hamlyn-flarris to Ogilby and Ogilby to Hamlyn-Harris. various letters 1915 (QMA

correspondence inward and outward 1915).

40 Clarke, C.C. Drary. 1986 pers. comm.

41 Anon, 1954, Obituary. HA Longman. Qd Nat. 15 (1-2): 38-40.

42 Herbert, DA, 1955. Memorial Lecture, Heber Albert Longman. Proc. R. Soc Qd

66(7): 83^89.

43 Ftuner, !.. 1944-48, Manuscript diary (QMA).

44 Courier Mail 21 July 1936.

45 Anon, 1963. Death of G. Mack, museum director. Telegraph 24 October 1963.

46 Anon, 1964. Was World Authority on Birds of Australia. Courier Mail 25 October

1963.

47 Anon, 1964. Obituary, G. Mack. Qd Nat. 17(3,4): 75.

48 Jack, N., 1964. Obituary Mr George Mack. Emu 63(4): 343-44.

49 Vernon, D.P., 1964. Vale. Kalori 28 April 1964: 19.

APPENDIX 2

THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM STAFF 1862-1970

1 Staff and trustees from 1971 are published in the Annual Reports of the

Queensland Museum 1971-1986.

2 Hedges was the only gardener not employed by the Department of Agriculture,

which was responsible for the museum garden after the move to the Exhibition
building (see Chapter 3).

*' « ; *

*.-' :

i . R#Sr'

351

INDEX

Previous page: Richard Daintree, the
government geologist for north
Queensland had been sent to London in
1871 to arrange the Queensland Annexe
in the International Exhibition of Arts
and Industries. He remained there as
Queensland's agent general. In 1872 he
arranged a similar display, here
photographed by the official
photographer to the exhibition, and
described in The Times, London 17 June
1872:

thanks to the energy and hard
work of Mr Daintree, the result is
extremely creditable to the colony,
and holds out great promise of its
future prosperity. The walls are
hung round with geological maps of
Queensland, with pictures of the
aboriginal inhabitants, with a great
variety of coloured photographs of
scenery, most artistically executed
by Mr Daintree himself, and with
illustrations of the past and present
flora and fauna of the country. The
maps exhibit almost every variety
of mineral wealth; very extensive
coalfields of two formations, and an
abundance of tin, copper, gold,
silver, and other metals. Specimens
of the various ores are displayed in
cases, and finished metal work of a
high order of merit .Among the
vegetable productions are cotton, a
grass likely to be valuable in the
manufacture of paper, and a great
variety of woods, many of them of
beautiful grain and close texture,
capable ofreceiving a fine polish,
and well adapted for the best kinds
of cabinet work. Several cases are
filled by a superb collection of
stuffed birds, very well mounted,
and many of them of gorgeous
plumage. Stuffed kangaroos are
also to be found, and kangaroo and
other skins adorn the walls. Among
a few native implements and
weapons may be seen hatchets
formed, as in the most primeval
times, by binding a shaped flint or
celt to a handle, and near these are
nets and other contrivances for
ensnaring creatures used as food.

At the opening 'some 50 gentlemen',
including 'many of the leading colonists'
then in London, sat down to a repast,
provided by Mr Daintree, at which -
they might either mingle English
and Australian foods, or dine
exclusively upon either.

The Queensland contribution to

the feast consisted of kangaroo
soup, pate de homard a la dugong,
ox tongues, sheep tongues, salt and
spiced beef, mutton and lard de
dugong"..... The kangaroo soup and
the tongues were excellent and the
meats, if not exactly excellent,
were very eatable, and have

improved Australian wines were

placed upon the table but
unfortunately with no information
about their age, the cost at which
they were produced or the districts

yielding them. The best a white

wine called Riesling had a really

fine bouquet and an extremely
pleasant flavour. The Australian

hock a sound pure wine of

natural character The 'Australian

claref was distinctly bad (The

Times, loc. cil.\
In responding to the toast to Queensland,
Mr Daintree referred to the 'abundant
wealth and inexhaustible resources of all
the British colonies'.

354

Page numbers in italics refer to
illustrations; those in bold type
indicate the more substantial
entries.

Abel Smith, Sir Henry, 113
Aboriginal (see also collections)

archaeology ,2 15

anthropology ,2 15

artefacts,108

campsite (see also displays), 210

culture (teaching of), 116

ethnography,216-7

folklore,130

material culture.206 208 212-3

message sticks,i9S-9

midden sites,210

people,219

rock art^ig 218

spear throwers,219

stone arrangements,213-4
Aboriginal Arts Board (Australia

Council),218
Aboriginal and Island Affairs. Dept

of,217-8
Aboriginal Relics Preservation Act

1968,217
Aborigines,229

alienation.7 200 206 208

audiovisual, 115

Broadbent and,317

canoes,244

European disease, 7

protectors of,206 251 291
Acclimatisation Society,23 39 279 311
Acrobates pygmaeus, 163
Acroporidae.193
Addison, G.H.M.,23-5
Adsett, D.,97
Adult education,102
Agnew, N.,216 240

agent general, Queensland, 122 131 228
agricultural crops,178
Agricultural Society of NSW show

1877,70
agricultural ventures,3 :
Agriculture, Dept of.45-9 53 178-9 184-5

178 266
AIF.77 212
Albert Lyrebird, 156
Albert Park,286 296
alginates (in mould ing),88
Alice Springs, 115

Alder, Anthony,40 52-5 70 73-5 291
Alexander the Great,302
Allen, WA.225
Allingham Creek,i4S
Amateur Fishermen's Association of

Queensland, 162
Ambrym,201
Amaurobiidae,189
American Congress,303
American Journal of Science£64
American Museum of Natural History ,58

142 145 147 163-4
American Snapping Turtle,162
ammonites, 139-40
Anderson, Lars (sawmill),85
Andrews, Frederick, 157
animals, stuffed,152
Annals and Magazine of Natural

History,261
Annals of the Queensland Museum,10S

135-6 176 265 287 228 293
Annelida, annelids, 174 194
Annual Reports, Queensland

Museum,290

Antarctic fossils,137
Antechinus leo,170
anthropological

material, collecting of,200

Hamlyn-Harris research,210
Anthropological Society of

Queensland,213 323
anthropologist,213 248
anthropologist, Papuan government,211
anthropology (see also collections,

display),31219

collection bias,219

collection management,215-6

lectures on,210

physical,211

social (structural-functional),211 213
anthropology museum, University of

Queensland.213 218
Aplin, C. D'Oyly Hale, 16 36 68-9 106 122-

3 131148
Aprosmictus insignissimus,]55
arachnology, arachnids (see also

spiders).188-90
Aradidae,185 178
Araneomorphae,189
archaeological

field work,214 218

sites,213
archaeology,216

historical, industrial,234
Archbold (gardener) ,56*
Archbold, Richard, 58 163
Archer, Michael,115 147 148 149 169
Archer, Archibalds 43
Archiv fur Naturgeschichte,264
Arcom Pacific Pty Ltd.250
Arhopala wildei.175
Aristotle,302
Art Gallery, Queensland^ 31 104 227

296
artifice rs.31
art section,31
Arts, Heritage and the Environment,

Dept of, 247 250
Aru Is, 156
ascidians.194
Ashmolean,302
Ashmore Reef,251

assays, mineral,20 36 102 106 123 125
associates, museum (see also staff,

honorary), 143
attendance figures,104-5
attendants, 106
Atthey, Thomas, 134
audiovisuaIs,114 115
Aurukun,218
Austral oil engine,235
Australia Council (Aboriginal Arts

Board),218
Australian Aboriginal Life diorama (see

displays Aboriginal Campsite)
Australian animals (audiovisual),115
Australian Association for the

Advancement of Science, 137 314
Australian Biological Resources

Survey, 168
Australian Committee of Inquiry on

Museums and National Collections,

304
Australian ethnography, 31 215
Australian Hookworm Campaign,321
Australian Institute of Aboriginal

Studies,217-8
Australian Institute of Marine

Science,193
Australian Museum,9-10 41 43-4 49 52-

3 103 124 130 136 155 163 186-7 204

207 262 280 282 291 316

Australian National Helminth

ColIection,192
Australian National Research Council,322
Australian New Zealand Association for

the Advancement of Science.321
Australian Paper Mills,116
Australian War Memorial,77
Austrosaurus mackillopi,]38
aviation history (see also Hinkler,

Thomas Macleod collection,

Kingsford Smith),235
AVRO Avian Cirrus G-EBOV, 77-8 85 97

226227 229
AVRCMwaw VHUQ-G.92
AVRO Baby,S5 86 220-1 236

Bailey, Frederick Manson.39 41 43 71

177 255 283 319 321
Baillie.J.,54 55 56
Baird, Betty,61
Baker, P.,247
Balaam, WJ.,84
Bald Hills, 139
Bamaga,218
Bancroft, Joseph.17 48 179 190 279 279

288 312
Bancroft, Josephine (see also

Mackerras),190
Bancroft family, 92
Bancroft, Thomas,181 189
Banfield, Bertha,187
Banfield, EJ.,187 192 210-1
Banks, Sir Joseph,8
Barbour, Thomas,141
barnacles, 194
Barnard, H.G.,57
Barnard, Wilfred Bourne,185 185
Bartholomai, Alan,62, 63 63 85 88 126 132

141-2 143-8 147 213-4 216 295
Bartley, Nehemiah,123
basicranium, analyses, 147
Baxter,48
Beagle 1841,74
beam engine.91 232 233
bees, 181

catalogue of, 184
beetles (see Coleoptera)

foreign, 175
Beirne, Michael P.,58 60 62 79
Belbin,Capt.R.J.,2O120fl
Belcher, R.,95
Bell, the Hon. J.T.,137
Bellenden Ker, - Range,158 177 194 195

319
Bendeez Pty Ltd,250
Beni Assan,225
Bennett, George.10 130 133
Bennett, F.G.,133
benthic fauna,197
Berlin Museum, 184
Bernays, C.A.,210
Bernays, L.A.,42 71 284 284
Berney, Frederick.137-9
Berry,J.,49 50 54 105
Berrvman, V.$0 91
Beutel,E.,W9 233
Bevington, W.R.iiO 111 111-2
Bibliotheca Zoologica,258
bicentennial, 1988.298
Billing, Shirley (nee Deller),112
Bingham, EJ.,59
bird haU,89
birds,45

Bishop, Martin J.,188 189
Blackall Range, 189
Black Mountain Skink,i70

355

Blackmail, h A
Blake. Capl.W.H.j

Bl,>tiidu tl l86

Bleeker. P., Atlas TcHlhyohgt<flti',35B 259

Bligh, 0..95

BlufT Downs.147

oj trustees i iee also trustees) 20
.31 39 156 174 276-99 222-3 233 247
27?

attend;

bueiness,27828Q283 289

businc: t, ' I I Cl ;>f,283

chairraan,284
disbanding o£291
Final meeting 1907,391
inaugural meeting 1970.295
meetings.41 257-8 295
proceedings,2S6
quorum, 284

1 6.264
site and building committee,298
statutory powers.286 290 293
subcommittees*^
Boer witr.289

Bologna, Giovanni de.228

ufamily.237^;
Bollon.W.R.R ( 297
Booklets, Quo i uiseum.62 llO

nding.256 254 266-7 269 271
books, Coiten '6,256

i looks, wanl "' ' '
. marine.31
botanical departmi ■
anum).39
i . QloniaJ.43
bo v.". economic,4S
Bougainville, Chevalier de,245
Bounty, HMS£4fi
Bowen, Sir ' rgueon.

KCMG.2 3 4 8-9 310
Bowen,283
Bowman, L .,.,.

-i rebelhon.223

I. (Thomas Ibmpionl.ZSO

branch museums, <2 193 237 294 297
north Quetmsl;md,298

Town!

Brazier. T..136
Bremen, 5,6164213
Brighton Pavilion,24
me,2 6 "9 17
floods 1893,105

iuneil.25 27 108
Brisbane Anporl redevelopmenr*299
British Association 'or the Advancement
oJStieflns,]

h Museum
Broadbent collections.316
establishmentSOS
expeditions, WD 147 164

nan purchase,156-7
Hack, i

model tor colonists. 10
mosquitoes, 179

New Guinea material.161 203-4
palaeontology, 136 138
Briti&h Museum Catalogucs.258

British New Guinea (see New Guinea)
British school of social jnthropulogy.Sll
313

Broadbent. Kendall,43-5 37-40 4? 52-4
71 103 124 134 154 155 157-8 158-9
1W 177-8 186 204 283 291 315-W

Broad Sound.178

Broken River, 146

Brooker,WA. l >7

Brookes. William,222

Browne. J. Arthur. 138

l
Bry^, Professor W.H.,141
Brycu, Lee,212
brvuzoans f 194 197
Buckley, D.R.,54

um. J-,216
Buhot, Slephen.206 208

BundaJ

Burleigh Head6.179

Butler; K.J. Cuthbert,55~6 65269

butle, I also Lepidoptera,

■

Busacott, C.H., 284 2S5
Camozoii

birds. 134

. idiles.134
lizards, 134

pials.134 US

turtles. 134

■ ,:.ns,17r, 179

1 ail I ■ ■■' kuhop),299

Cairns. W.W..LMf

all ■:,

.,n ■ M ■ .-213
t ariiluum nautiloids. — tril0m~tes,144
Campbell. B.M.,62 90 93 193-4 197
Campbell, Charles.1

Cameron. J.,289 291

cannon, bronze^'.

Cannon. Lester, 190 194

Canterbury Mu&eum.l34

Capi iork,:i 158 167 177 V<)6 gig 229 316

Carboniferous

it oids, 135
coal measures.134
palaeoniscoid fish, 136
plants/145
tharks.l36tf5

i.v (see catalogues)
Cardwell.71 158 177 283 316
caretakers cottage^ 50 55 105
Cofiia aarttiis,l70

US 217
Carnarvon Gorge,213

irvon Range ,2 14 218
Carnegie Corponrtion.M
Caniegie travel grajit.6] 141 ;: ; .i
Carnegie 'Oust Granti59 111
Carpentaria basin. - subbasin,14
Carter, H.J.,182
casting.KO

Casuemainc lb 299

Catalogue oj \ Au si rot 'it m Stalk- and

lU-tycd Cnntaicu.262
catalogues

Csffd index. birds,157162

265-7
New Guinea tMacGregor)

collect ion.203-4 2UD
miners

cataloguing (see alSo registers), 188

MscGcegor collet tion, !
Cattle Station Yards model,226
census, 1864,7
centenary ot the Queensland

Museum,81-2

centenary trf Queensland^

cephalopods.181 320
Cemtodus (see also '■■■■■
chafer beetle,175
Chalcidoidea,182 185
Chambers, H. Vere,53 269

-19 306
Chapel, J.B.,24
Charleviile.158
Charters Towers. 183

elin

Chataway.J.V.^y 289-90
Chtlydra serpen linu^'l
Chester. Chad 5,38 257
chickens, two-headed- I
Chief Secretary s Oept.269
children's hour,7o
Chillagoe Caves.75
Cmna.145 233
Chinchilla.U 142

e ftgoda,223
Chisholm, Alec,J23

ilSoci ly, Bristams155
Charley, DJX42
Chranomeier,244

chronometer, Earnshaw,230

Churchill Fellowship, U4

C1B 101

CityHall.i9 25

Clarke. A.W., 124

Clarke, Joseph KJ&

Clarke River .126

Clarke, Sir Ruperl

Clark, the Rev, William Branwhite.130

132
cleaning of museum, 102-3
Clerk of the Legislative Assembly.17
Clifton, Darling Dow nt, 130 283
Oonc.urry.lK^

i naturalist.137
closure ol galleries (see Queensland

Museum)
Coath, Capt J.W..201
Cobb & OjMO
Cobb A Co Museum of Animal

Transport ,
Cochrane. Ben.237
Cockerell. John T\. 68 156-7
Cockerdl, T.D.A.,184
cockroaches, 186
coelenterates.197
&jghlan,J.C w 206 206-7

-^h.M..54-6 59 73 75
Coleman, R.A.,95 247
Co!eoptcra,17h
collecting. !'■

methodh.316,

by overseas institutions, 163-4

" ruinea materiaX21fi

transport of mate-i ial.316
CAUecfioris (See also collections
anthropology - history and
technology, — insects, —
invertebrates)^ 59 69 152 174 194

3 302 305
.
Australian.152
birds (MacGregor),161i6*i
Broadbent, 1 \
care of, 175

Coxens,38 174 186 256
development of, 280
donations. 156
enlargement, expansion of,22 50 69

102 28
ge.156
fossil.134

geological^l 43 133 174 222
Geologicil Survey,126 133
herbarium. 4 1

mineralogieaI,21 36 68 124 126-7 134
natural history ,36 222

New Guinea (natural htetoryMfil

203-4

356

olfirial,305
opal, 127

Philosophical Societys
purchase of. 156
reference, 186
research,16]
study of, 152
vertebrate, 167 170
vertebrate palaeontology, 1>4
collections, anthropology ,200
Aboriginal.206 208 211
Aboriginal archaeology ,217
Australian,2002l2
Arnhem Land (eastel
curatlon of,213
ethnography.222
Fiji.212
Fly Rw

H;irimann,212
Irian Java.2 12
McConneu.213

MacCre«or,50 53 202 203 202-4

216
MelanesiaSOTJ
Micronesia^QS

management C-f,218
New Gumea2202 212 292
New Guinea, British.202

New Guinea. German.210
New Zealand,2<X)

palaeolithic implements^ \2
Papua, Gulf of.2 10
Skertchly's, :

nonh^OOmm

i west fVitic.200
Vanuatu,^ 210
collections, Kistoryand u.rluiology£28
233

drugs.225

engines,235

food and adulteration ,225

horologicat.230

technology,222 226 233

weapons.235
collections, msects,174 175-86

Agriculture. Depf nU79 Iftt

Aradidae.185

Chaieidoidea,185 196

rnrkrnaches,186

optera (beetles),175 ItH

Diggles',155 175

dragonflies.182

Girjults',135

Hem ipt era, 184

Lv«eidae.t85

Lepidoptera (butterflies.) J75-0

Miskins.176

L79 181

Salting'*, 175
EeneorionidaeJ82

Woodward's.lBC
collectiuns, mvertebrates,38 177-8 182

ascidians.194 197
iceans.194 K#>-7

echinoderm

helminth>.190 192 196

protozoans, 190 192

spiders.189 196

u>tals,192-3 197
collect-
zoology (see also Broadbent'),181

geology .43